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MARYLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
jFun& publicatton, IRo. 36. 



EARLY MARYLAND POETRY 




THE WORKS OF EBENEZER COOK, GENT: LAUREAT 

OF MARYLAND, WITH AN APPENDIX CON- 

TAINING THE MOUSETRAP, EDITED 

BY BERNARD C. STEINER. 



InHimora^ 1900. 



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1 r>i> I 



EAELY MARYLAND POETRY. 



THE WORKS OF EBENEZER COOK, GENT: LAUREAT 
OF MARYLAND, WITH AN APPENDIX CON- 
TAINING THE MOUSETRAP, EDITED 
BY BERNARD C. STEINER. 



MARYLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
ffxxni) publication, IRo. 36. 



EARLY MARYLAND POETRY 




THE WORKS OF EBENEZER COOK, GENT: LAUREAT 
OF MARYLAND, WITH AN APPENDIX CON- 
TAINING THE MOUSETRAP, EDITED 



BY BERNARD C. STEINER. 



laHnttnrs, 1900. 



-fS^ 



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PRINTED FOR 

THE MARYLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY 



FROM THE INCOME OF 



THE PEABODY PUBLICATIOIS^ FUJSTD. 



Committee on Publication 



CLAYTON C. HALL, 
HENRY STOCKBRIDGE, 
BERNARD C. STETNER. 



Neither the Committee on Publication nor the Society assume any 
responsibility for the statements or opinions expressed by the authors of 
the Publications issued under their supervision. 



Printed by Joh_n Murphy Company. 



CONtENTS. 



Page. 

I. Introduction 7 

II. The Sot-Weed Factor 11 

Notes 32 

III. Sot-Weed Factor Eedivivtjs 33 

Notes 51 

IV. Elegy upon Nicholas Lowe, Esq 53 

Notes 55 

V. The Mousetrap 57 

Notes 101 



I. INTRODUCTION. 



In 1708, Ebenezer Cook, Gent., of whom we know nothing 
certainly save what can be gathered from his works, published in 
London a short satirical poem called the " Sot- Weed Factor." It 
may be useful to explain this title. In the Provincial days of 
Maryland, a factor was an agent of an English merchant, and 
sot-weed, i. e., the weed which makes men besotted, was a slang 
name for tobacco, the staple of the Province. The poem con- 
tained twenty-one pages and purported to be a narrative of the 
experiences of the author in Maryland, whither he had come 
from England to " open store." Disgusted with the Province, he 
returned to England and drew a most unflattering picture of the 
new country, being a predecessor of Mrs. Trollope, Dickens, and 
the long line of Englishmen who brought back unfavorable im- 
pressions of America. Moses Coit Tyler in his fascinating Sis- 
tory of American Literature (Vol. II, p. 255) characterizes the 
work as an " obvious extravaganza," in which a " vein of genuine 
and powerful satire is struck." In this verdict, every reader 
must join, though his further statement that the " autobiographic 
narrative " is " probably only a part of its robust and jocular 
mirth," will be questioned by many of us, who feel that there is 
convincing evidence in the story of the reality of some of the 
adventures described. 

The work was reprinted in 1865 under the editorship of Col. 
Brantz Mayer, as number two of Shea's Reprints of Southern 
Tracts. Ten copies were issued on large, and one hundred and 
twenty-five od small paper. Mr. Mayer states that the poem had 
been reprinted, with a poem on Bacon's Rebellion, by Mr. Green, 
at Annapolis, in 1731. I have never seen the reprint but imagine 
that either the date, or the name of the printer, must have been 
incorrectly copied by Mr. Mayer, as Jonas Green did not come 
to Annapolis until 1740, and William Parks is the only printer 

7 



8 



commonly supposed to have been there in 1731. Mr. IMayer says 
that this eighteenth century reprinter " cautiously reminds the 
reader" that the description was written twenty years ago and 
" did not agree with the condition of Annapolis," at the time of 
the reprint. The present is probably the fourth edition of the 
''Sot- Weed Factor." 

Twenty- two years later, in 1730, William Parks, at Annapolis? 
printed for the author, "E. C Gent," a poem of twenty-eight 
pages. The poem was entitled " Sot- Weed Redivivus," and the 
name of the poem, as well as the initials of the author, would 
make clear to us, what is made clearer by the poem, that it is 
either the work of our Ebenezer Cook, or of a clever imitator. 
Prof. Tyler considers that this poem lacks the wit of the earlier 
one (II, p. 260). We allow each reader to decide this point for 
himself It will be noted that, instead of devoting all his attention 
to social life, the Sot-weed Factor discusses political affairs in the 
second poem. As far as I know, " Sot-Weed Kedivivus " had never 
been reprinted, and is now reproduced from the copy in the John 
Carter Brown Library, to whose owner, Mr. John Nicholas Brown, 
and librarian, Mr. George P. Winship, our thanks are due for 
courtesies shown us. 

It is possible that Ebenezer Cooke, an inhabitant of St. Mary's 
City in 1693, was the poet (Aid. Arch., Vol. 19, p. 75). 

In the Maryland Gazette for December 17 to 24, 1728, pub- 
lished by William Parks, at Annapolis, is contained an Elegy on 
the Hon. Nicholas Lowe. This poem occupies an entire column 
of the paper and is signed by the well-known initials, E. C. This 
fact and the character of the poem readily induce us to attribute 
it to Ebenezer Cook, and it is reprinted here as the third of his 
works. To the initials in this case, however, is appended the 
mysterious word " Laureat." Of what was Cook the laureate ? 
Can it be that Charles, fifth Lord Baltimore and fourth Lord 
Proprietary of the Province of Maryland, had appointed Cook 
his laureate, in imitation of the practice of the English royal 
court? Did he choose an official to prepare poems for solemn 
occasions of the State, as he did a chaplain ? No answer to these 
queries has been found ; but, as Col. Lowe was a member of His 
Lordship's Council, there is some plausibility in the claim that 
here was an official laureate in Maryland. This elegy had never 



9 



been reprinted, and my attention was called to it by that inde- 
fatigable student of Maryland history, Mr. Basil Sollers. 

These constitute the only known works of Cook, but it has 
seemed worth while to add, as an appendix, a little poem entitled 
the " Mousetrap," being a translation of a Latin poem called 
" Muscipula." This poem is not of so great interest in itself, but 
seems worth reprinting, as the first literary production of Mary- 
land's press, and as containing a long dedication to Benedict 
Leonard Calvert, then Governor of Maryland. This dedication 
deals with the condition of affairs in the Province, and throws 
some interesting side lights thereupon. The copy in the posses- 
sion of the Society lacks a title page, but from Sabin's Bibliotheca 
Americana we learn that the original Latin poem was written by 
Holds worth, and that the translation was made by B. Lewis. As 
to who Lewis was, we know nothing, but his notes show him to 
have been a man of education and culture. Sabin speaks of the 
poem as of " great rarity." He adds, " It has a Latin as well as 
an English title. The three lines in Greek letters in the Latin 
title are supplied with a pen, the printer probably not having 
any Greek type." The same is true of the Greek word in page 
43 of the notes. 

Here, then, is the beginning of literary life in the Province of 
Maryland. The reed on which the poets played may have been a 
slender one, but it was the first one heard among the plantations 
and the forests which bordered the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. 
It is believed that these poems throw important light on the social 
life of the Province in the early years of the eighteenth century. 

Messrs. William Hand Browne, Kirby F. Smith and Christopher 
Johnston have kindly assisted in the preparation of this pub- 
lication. 

The editor's notes are marked in the text by numerals enclosed 
in brackets. 

The pagination, capitalization and spelling of the original text 
is carefully preserved. In " Sot- Weed Redivivus" and the Dedi- 
cation and poetical text of " Muscipula," the side paging is that 
of the original edition. The reprint of the " Sot-Weed Factor " 
in 1865 was inexact in many particulars. This reprint carefully 
follows the John Carter Brown copy. The signature letters and 
catchwords at the foot of the pages and the symbol VV for W 
have not been reproduced. 



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[ 1 ] 



THE 



Or, a Voyage to 

Maryland, &c. 



CONDEMNED by Fate to way-ward Curse, 
Of Friends unkind, and empty Purse ; 
Plagues worse than filPd Pandora^ s Box, 
I took my leave of Albion^s Rocks : 
With heavy Heart, coucern'd that I 
Was forc'd my Native Soil to fly, 
And the Old World must bid good-buy. 
But Heav'n ordainM it should be so. 
And to repine is vain we know : 
Freighted with Fools, from Plymouth sound, 
To Mary-Land our Ship was bound. 
Where we arrived in dreadful Pain, 
Shocked by the Terrours of the Main ; 
For full three Months, our wavering Boat, 
Did thro' the surley Ocean float, 
And furious Storms and threatening Blasts, 
Both tore our Sails and sprung our Masts : 



12 

[ 2 ] 

Wearied, yet pleas'd, we did escape 

Such Ills, we anchor'd at the (*) Cape ; ^^'^ 

But weighing soon, we ploughed the Bay, 

To C) Cove it in (°) Piscato-way ,^^'^ 

Intending there to open Store, 

I put myself and Goods a-shore : 

Where soon repairM a numerous Crew, 

In Shirts and Drawers of (^) Scotch-cloth Blue. 

With neither Stockings, Hat, nor Shooe. 

These Sot-weed ^^^ Planters Crowd the Shoar, 

In Hue as tawny as a Moor : 

Figures so strange, no God designM, 

To be a part of Humane Kind : 

But wanton Nature, void of Rest, 

Moulded the brittle Clay in Jest. 

At last a Fancy very odd 

Took me, this was the Land of Nod ; 

Planted at first, when Vagrant Cain, 

His Brother had unjustly slain : 

Then conscious of the Crime he'd done, 

From Vengeance dire, he hither run ; 

And in a Hut supinely dwelt, 

The first in Furs and Sot-weed dealt. 

And ever since his Time, the Place, 

Has harboured a detested Race ; 

Who when they cou'd not live at Home, 

For Refuge to these Worlds did roam ; 

In hopes by Flight they might prevent, 

The Devil and his fell intent ; 

Obtain from Tripple Tree ^^^ repreive, 

And Heav'n and Hell alike deceive : 

But e're their Manners I display, 

I think it fit I open lay 

My Entertainment by the way ; 

That Strangers well may be aware on. 

What homely Diet they must fare on. 

(a) By the Cape, is meant the Capes of Virginia, the first Land on the 
Coast of Virginia and Mary-Land. 

(^) To Cove is to lie at Anchor safe in Harbour. 

(c) The Bay of Piscato-way, the usual place where our Ships come to an 
Anchor in Mary-Land. 

(^) The Planters generally wear Blue Linnen. 



13 

[ 3 ] 

To touch that Shoar, where no good Sense is found, 

But Conversation's lost, and Manners drowned. 

I crost unto the other side, 

A River ^^^ whose impetuous Tide, 

The Savage Borders does divide ; 

In such a shining odd invention, 

I scarce can give its due Di mention. 

The Indians call this watry Waggon 

(®) CanoOy a Vessel none can brag on ; 

Cut from a Popular- Tree, or Pine, 

And fashioned like a Trough for Swine : 

In this most noble Fishing-Boat, 

I boldly put myself a-float ; 

Standing Erect, with Legs stretched wide. 

We paddled to the other side : 

Where being Landed safe by hap, 

As Sol fell into Thetis Lap. 

A ravenous Gang bent on the stroul, 

Of (^) Wolves for Prey, began to howl ; 

This put me in a pan nick Fright, 

Least I should be devoured quite : 

But as I there a musing stood, 

And quite benighted in a Wood, 

A Female Voice pierc'd thro' my Ears, 

Crying, You Rogue drive home the Steers. 

I listen'd to th' attractive sound, 

And straight a Herd of Cattel found 

Drove by a Youth, and homewards bound : 

Cheer'd with the sight, I straight thought fit, 

To ask where I a Bed might get. 

The surley Peasant bid me stay. 

And ask'd from whom (^) IMe run away. 

Surprized at such a saucy Word, 

I instantly lugg'd out my Sword ; 

Swearing I was no Fugitive, 

But from Great-Britain did arrive, 

In hopes I better there might Thrive, 

To whichhe mildly made reply, 

/ beg your Pardon, Sir, that I 

(«) A Canoo is an Indian Boat, cut out of the body of a Popler-Tree. 
(^) Wolves are very numerous in Mary- Land. 

(K) 'Tis supposed by the Planters, that all unknown Persons are run away 
from some Master. 



14 

[ 4 ] 

Should talk to you Unmannerly ; 

But if you please to go with me, 

To yonder House, you'll welcome be. 

Encountring soon the smoaky Seat, 

The Planter old did thus me greet : 

"Whether you come from Goal or Colledge, 

"You're welcome to my certain Knowledge; 

" And if you please all Night to stay, 

" My Son shall put you in the way. 

Which offer I most kindly took, 

And for a Seat did round me look ; 

When presently amongst the rest, 

He plac'd his unknown English Guest, 

Who found them drinking for a whet, ^^^ 

A Cask of (^) Syder on the Fret, ^'^ 

Till Supper came upon the Table, 

On which I fed whilst I was able. 

So after hearty Entertainment, 

Of Drink and Victuals without Payment ; 

For Planters Tables, you must know, 

Are free for all that come and go. 

While C) Pon and Milk, with (^) Mush well stoar'd, 

In wooden Dishes grac'd the Board ; 

With Q Homine and Syder-pap, 

(Which scarce a hungry Dog wou'd lap) 

Well stuft'd with Fat, from Bacon fryM, 

Or with Molossus dulcify 'd. 

Then out our Landlord pulls a Pouch, 

As greasy as the Leather Couch 

On which he sat, and straight begun. 

To load with Weed his Indian Gun ; ^^^ 

In length, scarce longer than ones Finger, 

Or that for which the Ladies linger. 

His Pipe smoak'd out with aweful Grace, 

With aspect grave and solemn pace ; 

The reverend Sire walks to a Chest, 

Of all his Furniture the best, 

Closely confined within a Boom, 

Which seldom felt the weight of Broom ; 

(^) Syder-pap is a sort of Food made of Syder and small Homine, like 
our Oatmeal. 

(i) Pon is Bread made of Indian-Corn. 

(^) Mush is a sort of Hasty -pudding made with Water and Indian Flower. 

(1) Homine is a Dish that is made of boiled Indian Wheat, eaten with 
Molossus, or Bacon-Fat. 



15 

[ 5 ] 

From thence he lugs a Cag of Eum, 
And nodding to me, thus begun : 
I find, says he, you don't much care, 
For this our Indian Country Fare ; 
But let me tell you, Friend of mine, 
You may be glad of it in time, 
Tho' now your Stomach is so fine ; 
And if within this Land you stay. 
You'll find it true what I do say. 
This said, the Rundlet up he threw, 
And bending backwards strongly drew : 
I pluck'd as stoutly for my part, 
Altho' it made me sick at Heart, 
And got so soon into my Head 
I scarce cou'd find my way to Bed ; 
Where I was instantly convey'd 
By one who pass'd for Chamber-Maid ; 
Tho' by her loose and sluttish Dress, 
She rather seem'd a Bedlam-Bess : 
Curious to know from whence she came, 
I prest her to declare her Xame. 
She Blushing, seem'd to hide her Eyes, 
And thus in Civil Terms replies ; 
In better Times, e'er to this Land, 
I was unhappily Trapann'd ; ^^^ 
Perchance as well I did appear. 
As any Lord or Lady here, 
Not then a Slave for twice two (^) Year. 
My Cloaths were fashionably new, 
Nor were my Shifts of Linnen Blue; 
But things are changed now at the Hoe, 
I daily work, and Bare-foot go. 
In weeding Corn or feeding Swine, 
I spend my melancholy Time. 
Kidnap'd and Fool'd, 1 hither fled. 
To shun a hated Nuptial (^) Bed, 

(*) 'Tis tlie Custom for Servants to be obliged for four Years to very 
servile Work ; after '^hich time thev have their Freedom. 

(^) These are the general Excuses made by English Women, which are 
sold, or sell themselves to Mary-Land. 



16 



C 6 ] 

And to my cost already find, 

Worse Plagues than those I left behind. 

Whatever the Wanderer did profess, 

Good-faith I couM not choose but guess 

The Cause which brought her to this place, 

Was supping e'er the Priest said Grace. 

Quick as my Thoughts, the Slave was fled, 

(Her Candle left to shew my Bed) 

Which made of Feathers soft and good, 

Close in the (^) Chimney-corner stood ; 

I threw me down expecting Rest, 

To be in golden Slumbers blest : 

But soon a noise disturbed my quiet. 

And plagued me with nocturnal Riot ; 

A Puss which in the ashes lay. 

With grunting Pig began a Fray ; 

And prudent Dog, that Feuds might cease, 

Most strongly bark'd to keep the Peace. 

This Quarrel scarcely was decided. 

By stick that ready lay provided ; 

But Reynard arch and cunning Loon, 

Broke into my Appartment soon ; 

In hot pursuit of Ducks and Geese, 

With fell intent the same to seize : 

Their Cackling Plaints with strange surprize, 

Chac'd Sleeps thick Vapours from my Eyes : 

Raging I jumped upon the Floar, 

And like a Drunken Saylor Swore ; 

With Sword I fiercly laid about, 

And soon dispersed the Feather'd Rout : 

The Poultfy out of Window flew. 

And Reynard cautiously withdrew : 

The Dogs who this Encounter heard, 

Fiercly themselves to aid me reared. 

And to the Place of Combat run. 

Exactly as the Field was won. 

(°) Beds stand in the Chimney-corner in this Country. 



17 

[ 7 ] 

Fretting and hot as roasting Capon, 

And greasy as a Flitch of Bacon ; 

I to the Orchard did repair, 

To Breathe the cool and open Air ; 

Expecting there the rising Day, 

Extended on a Bank I lay ; 

But Fortune here, that saucy Whore, 

Disturbed me worse and plagued me more, 

Than she had done the night before. 

Hoarse croaking (^) Frogs did ^bout me ring, 

Such Peals the Dead to Life wou^d bring, 

A Noise might move their Wooden King. 

I stuffed my Ears with Gotten white 

For fear of beiug deaf out-right. 

And curst the melancholy Night : 

But soon my Vows I did recant. 

And Hearing as a Blessing grant ; 

When a confounded Rattle-Suake, 

With hissing made my Heart to ake : 

Not knowing how to fly the Foe, 

Or whether in the Dark to go ; 

By strauge good Luck, I took a Tree, 

Prepared by Fate to set me free ; 

Where riding on a Limb a-stride. 

Night and the Branches did me hide. 

And I the Devil and Snake defy'd. 

Not yet from Plagues exempted quite. 

The curst Muskitoes did me bite ; 

Till rising Morn' and blushing Day, 

Drove both my Fears and Ills away ; 

And from Night's Errors set me free. 

Discharged from hospitable Tree ; 

I did to Planters Booth repair, 

And there at Breakfast nobly Fare, 

On rashier broiPd of infant Bear : 

I thought the Cub delicious Meat, 

Which ne'er did ought but Chesnuts eat ; 

(•*) Frogs are called Virginea Bells, and make, (both in that Country and 
Mary-Land) during the Night, a very hoarse ungrateful Noise. 



18 



[ 8 ] 

Nor was young Orsin's flesh the worse, 

Because he sucked a Pagan Nurse. 

Our Breakfast done, my Landlord stout, 

Handed a Glass of Rum about ; 

Pleas'd with the Treatment I did find, 

I took my leave of Oast ^^'^^ so kind ; 

Who to oblige me, did provide. 

His eldest Son to be my Guide, 

And lent me Horses of his own, 

A skittish Colt, and aged Rhoan, 

The four-leg'd prop of his Wife Joan. 

Steering our Barks in Trot or Pace, 

We saiFd directly for a place 

In Mary-Land of high renown, 

Known by the Name of Battle- Town P^^ 

To view the Crowds did there resort. 

Which Justice made, and I^aw their sport, 

In that sagacious County Court : 

Scarce had we enter'd on the way. 

Which thro' thick Woods and Marshes lay ; 

But Indians strange did soon appear, 

In hot persuit of wounded Deer; 

No mortal Creature can express. 

His wild fantastick Air and Dress ; 

His painted Skin in colours dyM, 

His sable Hair in Satchel ty'd,^^^^ 

Shewed Savages not free from Pride : 

His tawny Thighs, and Bosom bare. 

Disdained a useless Coat to wear, 

Scorn'd Summer's Heat, and Winters Air ; 

His manly Shoulders such as please. 

Widows and Wives, were bath'd in Grease 

Of Cub and Bear, whose supple Oil 

Prepared his Limbs 'gainst Heat or Toil. 

Thus naked Pict in Battel fought, 

Or undisguis'd his Mistress sought ; 

And knowing well his Ware was good, 

Refus'd to screen it with a Hood ; 



19 

[ 9 ] 

His Visage dun, and chin that ne'er 
Did Raizor feel or Scissers here, 
Or knew the Ornament of Hair, 
LookM sternly Grim, surpriz'd with Fear, 
I spurM my Horse, as he drew near : 
But Rhoan who better knew than I, 
The little Cause I had to fly; 
Seem'd by his solemn steps and pace, 
Resolved I should the Specter face, 
Nor faster movM, tho' spur'd and lickM, 
Than Balaam's Ass by Prophet kicked. 
Kekichnitop (^) the Heathen cry'd ; 
How is it Tom. my Friend reply'd : 
Judging from thence the Brute was civel, 
I boldly fac'd the Courteous Devil ; 
And lugging out a Dram of Rum, 
I gave his Tawny worship some : 
Who in his language as I guess, 
(My Guide informing me no less,) 
Implored the (^) Devil, me to bless. 
I thankM him for his good Intent, 
And forwards on my Journey went. 
Discoursing as along I rode, 
Whether this Race was framed by God 
Or whether some Malignant pow'r, 
Contrived them in an evil hour 
And from his own Infernal Look, 
Their Dusky form and Image took : 

(a) Kekicknitop is an Indian Expression, and signifies no more than this, 
Sow do you do ? 

(^) These Indians worship the Devil, and pray to him as we do to 
God Almighty. 'Tis suppos'd, That America was peopl'd from Scythia 
or Tartaria, which Borders on China, by reason the Tartarians and 
Americans very much agree in their Manners, Arms and Government. 
Other Persons are of Opinion, that the Chinese first peopled the West 
Indies; imagining China and the Southern part of America to be con- 
tiguous. Others believe that the Phoenicians who were very skilful Mari- 
ners, first planted a Colony in the Isles of America, and supply'd the 
Persons left to inhabit there with Women and all other Necessaries ; till 
either the Death or Shipwreck of the first Discoverers, or some other Mis- 
fortune occasioned the loss of the Discovery, which had been purchased 
by the Peril of the first Adventurers. 



20 

[ 10 ] 

From hence we fell to Argument 

Whence Peopled was this Continent. 

My Friend suppos'd Tartarians wild, 

Or Chinese from their Home exiled ; 

Wandering thro' Mountains hid with Snow, 

And Rills did in the Vallies flow, 

Far to the South of Mexico : 

Broke thro' the Barrs which Nature cast. 

And wide unbeaten Regions past, 

Till near those Streams the humane deludge rolPd, 

Which sparkling shin'd with glittering Sands of Gold, 

And fetch {^) Pizarro from the (^) Iberian Shoar, 

To Rob the Natives of their fatal Stoar. 

I SmiPd to hear my young Logician, 

Thus Reason like a Politician ; 

Who ne're by Fathers Pains and Earning 

Had got at Mother Cambridge Learning; 

Where Lubber youth just free from birch 

Most stoutly drink to prop the Church ; 

Nor with Q Grey Groat had taken Pains 

To purge his Head and Cleanse his Reines : 

And in obedience to the Colledge, 

Had pleas'd himself with carnal Knowledge : 

And tho' I likM the youngester's Wit, 

I judg'd the Truth he had not hit; 

And could not choose but smile to think 

What they could do for Meat and Drink, 

Who o'er so many Desarts ran, 

With Brats and Wives in Caravan; 

Unless perchance they'd got the Trick, 

To eat no more than Porker sick ; 

Or could with well contented Maws, 

Quarter like (°) Bears upon their Paws. 

(^) Pizarro was the Person that conquer'd Peru; a Man of a most 
bloody Disposition, base, treacherous, covetous and revengeful. 

(e) Spanish Shoar. 

(^) There is a very bad Custom in some Colledges, of giving the Stu- 
dents A Groat ad purgandas Rhenes, which is usually employ' d to the use 
of the Donor. 

(s) Bears are said to live by sucking of their Paws, according to the 
Notion of some Learned Authors. 



21 

Thinking his Reasons to confute, 

I gravely thus commenced Dispute, 

And urgM that tho' a Chinese Host, 

Might penetrate this Indian Coast; 

Yet this was certainly most true, 

They never cou'd the Isles subdue ; 

For knowing not to steer a Boat, 

They could not on the Ocean float. 

Or plant their Sunburnt Colonies, 

In Regions parted by the Seas : 

I thence inferred (^) Phoenicians old, 

Discovert first with Vessels bold 

These Western Shoars, and planted here. 

Returning once or twice a Year, 

With Naval Stoars and Lasses kind. 

To comfort those were left behind ; 

Till by the Winds and Tempest toar, 

From their intended Golden Shoar ; 

They suffered Ship-wreck, or were drown'd. 

And lost the World so newly found. 

But after long and learn'd Contention, 

We could not finish our dissention ; 

And when that both had talked their fill. 

We had the self same Notion still. 

Thus Parson grave well read and Sage, 

Does in dispute with Priest engage ; 

The one protests they are not Wise, 

Who judge by (') Sense and trust their Eyes; 

And vows he'd burn for it at Stake, 

That Man may God his Maker make ; 

The other smiles at his Religion, 

And vows he's but a learned Widgeon : 

{^) The Phoenicians were the best and boldest Saylors of Antiquity, and 
indeed the only Persons, in former Ages, who durst venture themselves 
on the Main Sea. 

(^) The Priests argue, That our Senses in the point of Transubstantiation 
ought not to be believed, for tho' the Consecrated Bread has all the acci- 
dents of Bread, yet they affirm, 'tis the Body of Christ, and not Bread but 
Flesh and Bones. 



22 

[ 12 ] 

And when they have empty M all their stoar 
From Books and Fathers, are not more 
Convinc'd or wiser than before. 

Scarce had we finish'd serious Story, 
But I espy'd the Town before me. 
And roaring Planters on the ground, 
Drinking of Healths in Circle round : 
Dismounting Steed with friendly Guide, 
Our Horses to a Tree we ty'd. 
And forwards passed amongst the Rout, 
To chuse convenient Quarters out : 
But being none were to be found, 
We sat like others on the ground 
Carousing Punch in open Air 
Till Cryer did the Court declare ; 
The planting Pabble being met, 
Their Drunken Worships likewise set : 
Cryer proclaims that Noise shou'd cease. 
And streight the 1 iawyers broke the Peace : 
Wrangling for Plaintiff and Defendant, 
I thought they ne'er would make an end on't : 
With nonsense, stuff and false quotations. 
With brazen Lyes and Allegations ; 
And in the splitting of the Cause, 
They us'd such Motions with their Paws, 
As shew'd their Zeal was strongly bent. 
In Blows to end the Argument. 
A reverend Judge, who to the shame 
Of all the Bench, cou'd write his (^) Name; 
At Petty-fogger took offence. 
And wonder'd at his Impudence. 
My Neighbour Dash with scorn replies, 
And in the Face of Justice flies : 
The Bench in fury streight divide. 
And Scribbles take, or Judges side ; 

(^) In the County-Court of Mary land, very few of the Justices of the 
Peace can write or read. 



23 

[ 13 ] 

The Jury, Lawyers, and their Clyents, 
Contending, fight like earth-born Gyants : 
But Sheriff wily lay perdue, 
Hoping Indictments wou'd ensue. 

And when- 

A Hat or Wig fell in the way. 

He seized them for the Queen as stray : 

The Court adjourned in usual manner. 

In Battle Blood, and fractious Clamour ; 

I thought it proper to provide, 

A Lodging for myself and Guide, 

So to our Inn we marched away, 

Which at a little distance lay ; 

Where all things were in such Confusion, 

I thought the World at its conclusion : 

A Herd of Planters on the ground, 

O'er-whelmM with Punch, dead drunk we found : 

Others were fighting and contending. 

Some burnt their Cloaths to save the mending. 

A few whose Heads by frequent use. 

Could better bare the potent Juice, 

Gravely debated State Affairs. 

Whilst I most nimbly trip'd up Stairs ; 

Leaving my Friend discoursing oddly, 

And mixing things Prophane and Godly: 

Just then beginning to be Drunk, 

As from the Company I slunk, 

To every Room and Nook I crept. 

In hopes I might have somewhere slept ; 

But all the bedding was possest 

By one or other drunken Guest : 

But after looking long about, 

I found an antient Corn-loft out, 

Glad that I might in quiet sleep, 

And there my bones unfractur'd keep. 

I lay'd me down secure from Fray, 

And soundly snoarM till break of Day; 

When waking fresh I sat upright, 

And found my Shoes were vanished quite ; 

Hat, Wig, and Stockings, all were fled 

From this extended Indian Bed : 



M 

[ 14 ] 

Vext at the Loss of Goods and Chattel, 

I swore I'd give the Rascal battel, 

Who had abus'd me in this sort, 

And Merchant Stranger made his Sport. 

I furiously descended Ladder ; 

No Hare in March was ever madder : 

In vain I searched for my Apparel, 

And did with Oast and Servants Quarrel ; 

For one whose Mind did much aspire 

To (^) Mischief, threw them in the Fire ; 

Equipt with neither Hat nor Shooe, 

I did my coming hither rue, 

And doubtful thought what I should do : 

Then looking round, I saw my Friend 

Lie naked on a Tables end; 

A Sight so dismal to behold. 

One wou'd have judged him dead and cold ; 

When wringing of his bloody Nose, 

By fighting got we may suppose ; 

I found him not so fast asleep. 

Might give his Friends a cause to weep: 

Rise (^) Oronooko, rise, said I, 

And from this Hell and Bedlam fly. 

My Guide starts up, and in amaze, 

With blood-shot Eyes did round him gaze ; 

At length with many a sigh and groan. 

He went in search of aged Rhoan ; 

But Rhoan, tho' seldom usM to faulter, 

Had fairly this time slipt his Halter ; 

And not content all Night to stay 

Ty'd up from Fodder, ran away : 

After my Guide to ketch him ran. 

And so I lost both Horse and Man ; 

Which Disappointment, tho' so great, 

Did only Mirth and Jests create : 

Till one more Civil than the rest, 

In Conversation for the best, 

Observing that for want of Rhoan, 

{*) 'Tis the Custom of the Planters, to throw their own, or any other 
Persons Hat, Wig, Shooes or Stockings in the Fire. 

(^) Planters are usually call'd by the Name of Oronooko, from their 
Planting Oronooko-Tobaeco. 



25 

[ 15 ] 

I should be left to walk alone ; 

Most readily did me intreat, 

To take a Bottle at his Seat ; ^^^^ 

A Fav'our at that time so great, 

I blest my kind propitious Fate ; 

And finding soon a fresh supply, 

Of Cloaths from Stoar-house kept hard by, 

I mounted streight on such a Steed, 

Did rather curb, than whipping need ; 

And straining at the usual rate, 

With spur of Pauch which lay in Pate,'^^^^ 

E'er long we lighted at the Gate : 

Where in an antient Cedar House, 

Dwelt my new Friend, a (^) Cokerouse ; 

Whose Fabrick, tho' 'twas built of Wood, 

Had many Springs and Winters stood; 

When sturdy Oaks, and lofty Pines 

Were level'd with (^) Musmelion Vines, 

And Plants eradicated were, 

Bv Hurricanes into the air ; 

^ 

There with good Punch and apple Juice, 
We spent our Hours without abuse: 
Till Midnight in her sable Vest, 
Persuaded Gods and Men to rest ; 
And with a pleasing kind surprize, 
Indulg'd soft Slumbers to my Eyes. 
Fierce ('') ^thon courser of the Sun, 
Had half his Pace exactly run ; 
And breath'd on me a fiery Pay, 
Darting hot Beams the following Day, 
When snug in Blanket white I lay : 
But Heat and (^) Chinees rais'd the Sinner, 
Most opportunely to his Dinner ; 
Wild Fowl and Fish delicious Meats, 
As good as Neptune^ s Doxy^^'^ eats, 
Began our Hospitable Treat; 
Fat Venson follow'd in the Pear, 
And Turkies wild Luxurious Chear : 

(*) Cockerouse, is a Man of Quality. 

(^) iVJusmilleon Vines are what we call Muskmilleon Plants. 

{^) JEthon is one of the Poetical Horses of the Sun. 

{^) Chinees are a sort of Vermin like our Bugs in England. 



26 

[ 16 ] 

But what the Feast did most commend, 
Was hearty welcom from my Friend. 
Thus having made a noble Feast, 
And eat as well as pamper'd Priest, 
Madera strong in flowing Bowls, 
FilPd with extream, delight our Souls; 
Till wearied with a purple Flood, 
Of generous Wine (the Giant's blood. 
As Poets feign) away I made. 
For some refreshing verdant Shade ; 
Where musing on my Rambles strange. 
And Fortune which so oft did change ; 
In midst of various Contemplations 
Of Fancies odd, and Meditations, 

I slumbered long 

Till hazy Night with noxious Dews, 
Did Sleep's unwholsom Fetters lose : 
With Vapours chiFd, and misty air, 
To fire-side I did repair : 
Near which a jolly Female Crew, 
Were deep engaged at Lanctre-Looe ; ^^^^ 
In Night rails ^^^^ white, with dirty Mein, 
Such Sights are scarce in England seen : 
I thought them first some Witches bent. 
On Black Designs in dire Convent. 
Till one who with aflPected air, 
Had nicely learned to Curse and Swear : 
Cry'd Dealing's lost is but a Flam,'^^®^ 
And vow'd by G — d she'd keep her PamP-^^ 
When dealing through the board had run, 
They ask'd me kindly to make one ; 
Not staying often to be bid, 
I sat me down as others did : 
We scarce had play'd a Round about. 
But that these Indian Froes ^"^^^ fell out. 
D — m you, says one, tho' now so brave, 
I knew you late a Four- Years Slave ; 
What if for Planters Wife you go, 
Nature design'd you for the Hoe. 

(') Wild Turkies are very good Meat, and prodigiously large in Mary- 
land. (This note refers to the last line on p. 15. Ed.) 



27 

[ 17 ] 

Rot you replies the other streight, 

The Captain kiss'd you for his Freight ; 

And if the Truth was known aright, 

And how you walk'd the Streets by night, 

You'd blush (if one cou'd blush) for shame, 

Who from Bridewell or Newgate came. 

From Words they fairly fell to Blows, 

And being loath to interpose, 

Or meddle in the Wars of Punk,'^^^^ 

Away to Bed in hast I slunk. 

Waking next day, with aking Head, 

And Thirst, that made me quit my Bed ; 

I rigg'd myself, and soon got up, 

To cool my Liver with a Cup 

Of (^) Succahana fresh and clear, 

Not half so good as English Beer ; 

Which ready stood in Kitchin Pail, 

And was in fact but Adam^s Ale ; 

For Planters Cellars you must know, 

Seldom with good October ^^^^ flow, 

But Perry Quince and Apple Juice, 

Spout from the Tap like any Since ; 

Untill the Cask's grown low and stale. 

They're forc'd again to (^) Goad and Pail : 

The soathing drought scarce down my Throat, 

Enough to put a Ship a float, 

With Cockerouse as I was sitting, 

I felt a Feaver Intermitting ; 

A fiery Pulse beat in my Veins, 

From Cold I felt resembling Pains : 

This cursed seasoning I remember. 

Lasted from March to cold December ; 

Nor would it then its Quarters shift. 

Until by Cardus ^^^^ turn'd a drift, 

("■) Succahana is Water. 

p) A Goad grows upon an Indian Vine, resembling a Bottle, when ripe 
it is hollow ; this the Planters make use of to drink water out of. 



/ 



/ 



28 



[ 18 ] 

And had my Doctress wanted skill, 

Or Kitchin Physick at her will, 

My Father's Son had lost his Lands, 

And never seen the Goodwin-Sands : 

But thanks to Fortune and a Nurse 

Whose Care depended on my Purse, 

I saw myself in good Condition, 

Without the help of a Physitian : 

At length the shivering ill relieved. 

Which long my Head and Heart had grieved ; 

I then began to think with Care, 

How I might sell my British Ware, 

That with my Freight I might comply, 

Did on my Charter party lie : 

To this intent, with Guide before, 

I tript it to the Eastern Shoar ; 

While riding near a Sandy Bay, 

I met a Quaker , Yea and Nay ; 

A Pious Conscientious Rogue, 

As e'er woar Bonnet or a Brogue, 

Who neither Swore nor kept his Word, 

But cheated in the Fear of God ; 

And when his Debts he would not pay. 

By Light within he ran away. 

With this sly Zealot soon I struck 

A Bargain for my English Truck, 

Agreeing for ten thousand weight. 

Of Sot-weed good and fit for freight. 

Broad Oronooho bright and sound, 

The growth and product of his ground • 

In Cask that should contain compleat. 

Five hundred of Tobacco neat. 

The Contract thus betwixt us made, 

Not well acquainted with the Trade, 

My Goods I trusted to the Cheat, 

Whose crop was then aboard the Fleet ; 

And going to receive my own, 

I found the Bird was newly flown : 

Cursing this execrable Slave, 

This damn'd pretended Godly Knave ; 



[ 19 ] 

On due Revenge and Justice bent, 

I instantly to Counsel went, 

Unto an ambodexter (°) Quack, 

Who learnedly had got the knack 

Of giving Glisters,'^^*^ making Pills, 

Of filling Bonds, and forging Wills; 

And with a stock of Impudence, 

Supply'd his want of Wit and Sense ; 

With Looks demure, amazing People, 

No wiser than a Daw in Steeple ; 

My Anger flushing in my Face, 

I stated the pre [c] ceding Case : 

And of my Money was so lavish, 

That he'd have poyson'd half the Parish, 

And hang'd his Father on a Tree, 

For such another tempting Fee ; 

Smiling, said he, the Cause is clear, 

Pll manage him you need not fear ; 

The Case is judged, good Sir, but look 

In Galen y No — in my Lord Cook, 

I vow to God I was mistook : 

I'll take out a Provincial Writ, 

And Trounce him for his Knavish Wit ; 

Upon my Life we'll win the Cause, 

With all the ease I cure the {^) Yaws : 

Resolv'd to plague the holy Brother, 

I set one Rogue to catch another ; 

To try the Cause then fully bent. 

Up to (®) Annapolis I went, 

A City Situate on a Plain, 

Where scarce a House will keep out Rain ; 

The Buildings fram'd with Cyprus rare, 

Resembles much our Southwark Fair : 



(c) This Fellow was an Apothecary, and turn'd an Attorney at Law. 

(d) The Yaws is the Pox. 

(®) The chief of Mary-land containing about twenty four Houses. 



29 



30 

[ 20 ] 

Bat Stranger here will scarcely meet 
With Market-place, Exchange, or Street ; 
And if the Truth I may report, 
^Tis not so large as Tottenham Court, 
St. Mary's once was in repute, 
Now here the Judges try the Suit, 
And Lawyers twice a Year dispute. 
As oft the Bench most gravely meet, 
Some to get Drunk, and some to eat 
A swinging share of Country Treat. 
But as for Justice right or wrong, 
Not one amongst the numerous throng, 
Knows what they mean, or has the Heart, 
To give his Verdict on a Stranger's part : 
Now Court being calPd by beat of Drum, 
The Judges left their Punch and Rum, 
When Pettifogger Doctor draws. 
His Paper forth, and opens Cause : 
And least I shou'd the better get, 
Bribed Quack supprest his Knavish Wit. 
So Maid upon the downy Field, 
Pretends a Force, and Fights to yield : 
The Byast Court without delay, 
Adjudg'd my Debt in Country Pay; 
In Q Pipe staves. Corn, or Flesh of Boar, 
Rare Cargo for the English Shoar : 
Raging with Grief, full speed I ran, 
To joyn the Fleet at {^) Kichetan ; t^^] 
Embarqu'd and waiting for a Wind, 
I left this dreadful Curse behind. 

May Canniballs transported o'er the Sea 
Prey on these Slaves, as they have done on me ; 
May never Merchant's, trading Sails explore 
This Cruel, this Inhospitable Shoar; 

(*) There is a Law in this Country, the Plantiff may pay his Debt in 
Country pay, which consists in the produce of his Plantation. 
(«) The homeward bound Fleet meets here. 



31 

[ 21 ] 

But left abandoned by the World to starve, 
May they sustain the Fate they well deserve : 
May they turn Savage, or as Indians Wild, 
From Trade, Converse, and Happiness exilM ; 
Recreant to Heaven, may they adore the Sun, 
And into Pagan Superstitions run 

For Vengence ripe 

May Wrath Divine then lay those Regions wast 
Where no Man's (*) Faithful, nor a Woman Chast. 

(*) The Author does not intend by this, any of the English Gentltmen 
resident there. 



FINIS. 



NOTES ON "THE SOT-WEED FACTOK." 



(1). Capes Henry and Charles at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. 

(2). Piscataway Creek empties into the Potomac River in Prince 
George's County below the District of Columbia. 

(3). Sot-weed is the weed that inebriates, i, e., tobacco. 

(4). Tripple tree is the gallows, possibly so called from the three pieces 
of wood forming it. 

(5). The Piscataway is doubtless the river referred to. 

(6). A whet is a dram that whets the appetite, an appetizer. 

(7). Liquor was said to be "upon the /rei" when it was in a state of 
effervescence. 

(8). The Indian gun was a pipe for smoking tobacco. 

(9). Trapann'd means ensnared or kidnapped. 

(10). Oast is another form of spelling host. 

(11). Battle-town was the county seat of Calvert County. It stood on 
Battle Creek, an affluent of the Patuxent, and was laid out in 1682 (see 
Md. Arch., Assembly Proceedings). The site, about eight miles south of 
Prince Frederick, is " now covered by cornfields and fields of tobacco." 

(12). Satchel — does this mean his hair was tied in a bag? 

(13). By Seat, the country residence is referred to. 

(14). " Spur of Punch which lay in Pate," i. e., spurred on by the punch 
which he had drunk and the effects of which were still felt by his brain. 

(15). A doxy is a sweetheart. 

(16). Lanctre-Looe, a game of cards, more usually spelled lanterloo, and 
often known by a shortened form of the word, as loo. 

(17). Night-rails — rail was an old word for dress or garment. 

(18). A Flam is a delusion, possibly another way of pronouncing flame, 
and so equivalent to glitter {vide Century Dictionary). 

(19). Pam, the knave of trumps, usually clubs in the game of loo, and 
the highest card in the pack. 

(20). Froes is another spelling of Vrouw, the Dutch word meaning woman, 

(21). A Punk is a prostitute. 

(22). October — ale brewed in this month was especially famous. 

(23). Cardus, the blessed thistle {Carduus benedictus), was held in high 
esteem as a remedy for disease. 

(24). Glisters or Clysters are enemas. 

(25). Kicketan or Kicoughton was the Indian name for Hampton, Va. 

32 



E. C. 



THE PLANTER'S 



LOOKING-GLASS, IN 



VEESE. 



ANNAPOLIS. 



1730. 



V 



TWH-ED REDIVJFUS 



Ot the Plantek.rs 



^ 

*■ 



\ 



■->. v«^>t. V 7""^ 



i 



ing^-GIafs. 



•■'^'A'' 



11^ 



kk 



Boiiefque Vcrfe, 



rnlmlated for the Meridian of 



R r L A N D. 



By E. C. Gent. 



•fi 'v/dt'P/tis, hi MafttkiV quod in T'er 



J N N J P O L I S,' 

Piir.icl by Wit LI AM Park, i, for the Author, 

M.iJCaXXX. 




Ill 

THE 

PREFACE 

TO THE 

EBADBR. 

MAY I be canonized for a Saint, if I know what Apology 
to make for this dull Piece of Household stuff, any more 
than he that first invented the Horn-Booh ; all that can be 
said in its Defence, is, the Muses hath taken as much Pains 
in framing their brittle Ware, as Bruin does in licking her 
Cubs into Shape : And should that carping Cur, Momus, but 
breath on it, (vah! miseris,) we are quite undone; since one 
Blast from the Critick^s Mouth, wou'd raise more Flaws in 
this Looking- Glass, than there be Circles in the Sphere; and 
when all is said and done, the Reader will judge just as he 
pleases. Well, if it be the Fate of these Sheets, to supply 
the Use of Waste Paper, the Author has done his Part, and 
is determined to write on, as often as his Inclination or 
Interest shall prompt him. 

Vale, 



IV 



TO THE 

Generous SUBSCRIBEES, &e. 

THE Author finding all Attempts prove vain, 
Those glittering Smiles from Fortune to obtain: 
That purblind Goddess on the Fool bestows ; 
His towering Grandeur to her Bounty owes ; 
Mather than on base Terms, the Point dispute, 
To the Pierian Songsters makes his Suit, 
In gingling Rhimes, to guide his gouty Feet, 
The ancient Path of Pegasus to beat 



36 



VI 



When mounted on old Roan, with Guide before ; 
The Spurious Off-spring of some Tawny-Moor^ 
To Battle-Town, the Author took his way, 
That thro' thick Woods and fenny Marshes lay. 
And mangled Oaks, laid blended on the Plains, 
Out down for Fuel by unthinking Swains. 

At Ax and Hoe, like Negroe Asses tug. 
To glut the Market with a poisonous Drug : 
Destroy sound Timber, and. lay waste their Lands, 
To head a Troop of Aethiopian Hands, 
Worse Villains are, than Forward^s ^^^ Newgate Bands, 
Will by their Heirs be curst for these Mistakes, 
E^er Saturn thrice his Revolution makes ; 
Whose thriftless State, this Looking-Glass is meant ^ 
By way of Metaphor, to represent : 
Wherein the Planter may his Fate behold. 
By sad Experience, has been often told, 
It^s Industry, and not a nauseous Weed, 
Must cloath the Naked, and the Hungry feed. 
Correct those Errors length of Time have made, 
Since the first Scheme of Government was laid 
In Maryland, for propagating Trade, 
Will never flowish, till we learn to sound 
Great-Britain^s Channel, and in Cash abound : 

The only best Expedient that remains, 

To make the P7'ofit equal to the Fains, 

And set us on the Par ivith neighbouring Swains. 

This thread-bare Theme the Author's Muse here sings. 
Did, never drink of the Castaliau Springs, 
Or bathed her Limbs in Heliconian Streams, 
Where fiery Phoebus cools his thirsty Beams. 

Such lofty Numbers and heroic Strains 
Of sprightly Wit, as VirgiFs La/ys contains. 
When elevated with Phoebian Fire, 
On Tyber's Banks, he struck the loarbling Lyre, 
Are too sublime for her, that ne!er could fly "] 
Above the Pitch of Grub-street Elegy, > 

Or the flat Sound of Doggerel Poetry : } 
So hopes Subscribers will be pleased to pass 
A candid Thought on this, his Looking-Glass. 



37 



Vll 



Vlll 



Such hind Encouragement to Poesy give, 

The Sotweed Factor by his Muse may live : 

This Province wisheth well, and should be glad, 

To see young Girls in Home-spun Vestments clad, 

Plain as this Dress, wherein his Muse appears ; 

And tho^ distasteful to their blooming Years, 

Yet the Hibernian Lasses, we are told. 

Such modest Garments wore in Days of old. 

Nor was the best bred Nymph allowed to wed, 

And taste the Pleasures of a Nuptial Bed, 

'Till she, before some Magistrate did go, 

PJquipp'd in Home-spun Weeds, from Head to Toe, 

Swore solemnly on the Evangelist, 

Each Flaxen Thread, her tender Hands did twist. 

And were such Laws and Customs here in Force, 

Maidens would soon industrious grow of course. 

To Minstrel /Sounds, prefer the Weaver's Loom, 

As did Arachne, Hill she had her Doom ; 

Improve each Minute at the Flaxen Wheel, 
That now think Scorn, to exercise the Reel. 

But as young Cloe may think it too hard. 
Her matrimonial Geer, to spin and card. 
Before she dare^ by Strephon be embracd. 
By Bride-maids, on her Wedding Night, unlaced: 
So if it were ordained, to end, the Strife^ 
No Swain should be allowed to have a Wife, 
On any Terms,^^^ Hill he Three Thousand Weight 
Of Merchantable Hemp, and fit for Freight, 
Or Flax had made, I dare be bold to say, 
Strephon would have no Time at Cards to "play. 
On Horse-Pacing, his Substance throw away, 
'Till he the Gordian-Knot with Cloe ty'd. 
By Industry, obtained her for his Bride. 



THE 

LOOKING-GLASS. 

Bound up to Port Annapolis^ 

The famous Beau Metropolis 

Of Maryland, of small Renown, 

When Ayma ^^^ first wore England^ s Crown, 

Is now grown rich and opulent ; 

The awful Seat of Government. 

Well mounted on my aged Pacer, 

In youthful Days, had been a Racer, 

For Severn Banks, my Course I steerM ; 

And spurring Jach, no Danger fearM ; 

Within the City Walls appeared, 

2 As Aethon, Courser of the Sun, 
Had half his Race exactly run ; 
There having first secured my Prancer, 
To Stable nimbly did advance. Sir. 
I passM Aestrea^s Temple Gates, 
Where the High Court of Delegates ^''^ 
Assembled were, with Resolution, 
To fortify their Constitution, 
By Laws, that should, to say no more, 
The Common- Weal to Health restore ; 
Consumptive is, and sickly grown ; 
As shall in proper Place be shewn ; 
Reduced to Penury indeed. 
By feeding on this Indian Weed. 

For Remedy, both Houses joyn. 
To settle here a Current Coin,^^^ 
Without Exception, such as may. 
Our Publick Dues and Clergy pay, 

3 Grown Worldly wise, unwilling are, 
To be put off with Neighbours Fare ; 
Hold Predial Tythes}-^^ secure in Bags, 
Better than Paper made of Rags : 



40 



The Scribes likewise, and PhariseeSy 

Infected with the same Disease, 

On Paper Money look a squint, 

Care not to be made Fools in Print. 

Thus what is meant for Publick Good, 

I find to be misunderstood, 

And taken in the worser Sense, 

By those, care not for Paper Pence. 

And tho' this Scheme should prove in vain, 

The Case to me seems very plain ; 

Said I to Planter standing by, 

And was for Paper Currency : 

It's Money, be it what it will, 

In Tan-Pit coined, or Paper-Mill, 

That must the hungry Belly fill. 

When summon'd to attend the Court, 

Held at the Magisterial Port.^^^ 

So far, said he, with you I joyn ; 

Am glad to find your Thoughts suit mine : 

And with Submission to the State, 

I have a Project in my Pate, 

May prove the Making of this liand. 

If executed out of Hand ; 

Which is to give my Fancy vent, 

Within my Pericranium Pent. 

The levelling a standing Coin, 

It matters not what Sort of Mine 

It issues from, since ev'ry Thing 

Is worth no more than it will bring. 

Suppose a Statute Law was made, 

For the Encouragement of Trade ; 

And Men of various Occupations, 

Within his Majesty's Plantations, 

That Copper Money ^ Tin, or Brass, 

Throughout America should pass : 

Which Coin shou'd the King's Image bear ; 

In equal Worth be ev'ry where : 

Not subject to be dipt by Shears, 

Like Yellow-BoySj'^^J have lost their Ears ; 

But as a Free-born Subject range, 

Of different Size, for ready Change. 



41 



This Dialogue was scarce begun, 

As on the Walks we took a turn, 

When sudden Noise alarmed our Ears, 

Filling the Town with Hopes and Fears, 

That seem'd to Eccho from the Hive ; 

Whereat I grew inquisitive. 

To know the Meaning of such Clamour ; 

Says One, in Drink, that made him stammer, 

The Reason's this, if you must know it, 

The House divided is, old Poet, 

In voting for the Money Bill ; 

Which, tho' composM with wondrous Skill, 

Will never pass, I dare be bold, 

A Pipe of Wine on it to hold. 

This said, revolved on t'other Dose,^^^ 
To Tavern steer'd an Oblique Course : 
Which standing almost within Hollow, '-^"^ 
I did his drunken Worship follow ; 
Seem'd by his reeling thro' the Street, 
To be much founder'd in his Feet. 
So reach'd the Bacchanalian Mansion, 
Before the Host had gave him Sanction. 
And meeting with young Politicians, 
Dull antiquated State Physicians ; 
Replenishing their thirsty Souls 
With Lemon Punch, in flowing Bowls. 
Not waiting long for Invitation ; 
At Fire Side took up my Station ; 
As others did ; were grown profuse, 
Inspir'd by the potent Juice, 
On the Proceedings of that Day, 
Whilst some at Dice, pass'd Time away : 
When one dubb'd Esqr ; by Mistake, 
His wise Remarks began to make, 
On the new Plan for raising Pence, 
Protesting, tho' it was the Sense 
Of some, that sat in the wise * ilfo^e. 
He cou'd not safely give his Vote, 
For such an odd contriv'd Intention, 
As e'er was laid before Convention : 



^Assembly. 



42 

8 Alledging, Planters, when in drink, 

Wou^d light their Pipes with Paper Chink ; ^^"^ 
And knowing not to read, might be 
Impos'd on, by such Currency. 

These Reasons, Laughter did create ; 
The Subject was of our Debate ; 
'Till Midnight, in her Sable Vest, 
Persuaded Gods and 3Ien to Rest ; 
And with a pleasing kind Surprize, 
Indulged soft Slumber to my Eyes. 
I caird the drowsy Passive Slave, 
To light me to my downy Grave : 
Where instantly I was conveyed, 
By one that passM for Chamber-Maid, 
Close by the Side of Planter laid. 
Curious to know from whence he came, 
I boldly craved his Worship's Name. 

9 And tho' the Don at first seem'd sly, 
At length he made this smart Reply. 

I am, says he, that Cocherouse, 
Once entertained you at his House, 
When aged Roan, not us'd to falter. 
If you remember, slipt his Halter ; 
Left Sotweed Factor in the Lurch, 
As Presbyterians leave the Church : 
However, since we here are met, 
Let's, by Consent, take t'other Whet 
Before we sleep ; Content, said I ; 
Here, Gipsy , to the Cellar fly, 
And bring us up a Flask of Clarret ; 
Since we are quarter'd in this Garret. 
I think a Bottle has more Charms, 
Than can be found in Morpheus Arms : 
But finding the Mullatto fled. 
To Chimney Nook, her native Bed ; 

10 And Night far spent, we thought it best, 
To let the Aethiopian rest : 
So gravely fell to Argument; 
On the late Act of Parliament ; ^^^^ 
The Growth of Sotweed to prevent. 
And give our Staple freer Vent. 



43 



And thus the Planter first began, 
This Matter seriously to scan ; 
As in next Canto you will find, 
Exactly copyM from his Mind. 

CANTO II. 

WHEN Charles the First, long since came hither, 

In stormy and tempestuous Weather, 

With Royal Grant, to settle here, 

A Province, worthy of his Care ; 

Leaving behind, to raise up Seed, 

And tend a stinking Indian Weed, 

11 Scotch, English, and Hybernians wild. 
From Sloth and Idleness exiPd. 
Tobacco, then, no Duty paid ; 
But Time has almost sunk the Trade, 
And Imposts on our Staple laid. 
From scorchiug Africa^ ^ burnt Shore, 
Brought Aethiopian Slaves great Store. 
More Weeds turn out, to Heat inurM, 
Than by the Populace are cur'd. 
Makes it a Drug, as Merchants feel. 
Whose Chance it is in Trash ^^^^ to deal ; 
Fit only to manure the Earth, 
In Physick Gardens, finds good Birth. 
But had old Galen known the Pains, 
Planters are at, for little Gains, 
He would have curst it long ago ; 
In Quarters here so fast doth grow. 
Plebians by it scarce can live. 
To naked Brats Subsistance give. 

12 These petty Charges not a few. 
With Subsidies both old and new, 
As Factors tell us, run so high. 
They swallow up our Industry. 
In whose undoubted Word and Honour, 
(That Female Idol,) Pox upon her. 
Planter's obliged are to confide. 
Or learn to plow the Ocean wide ; 
Had better trust to Home-spun Sails ; 
Go sell their Labour at the Scales, 



44 



Than be, by Bills of Sale undone ; 
Glad to Cape Fair, at last to run. 
And other Frauds us'd in the Trade, 
Has almost Beggars of some made ; 
Had rather by Shop Notes ^^^^ be bit, 
Hundred per Cent pay for their Wit, 
When Pride ambitious is to shine, 
In gaudy Feathers rich and fine, 

13 Than in coarse Goods lay out their Tubs/^*^ 
With Merchants here, unless 'tis Scrubs : 
Has put them on their Guard, for why? 
It's better deal for Currency, 

Than be imposed on at that Rate, 
Mundungus ^^^^ take, unfit for Freight. 

Thus, we go on, but do not see 
What may the Issue of it be. 
Take care the Poor may live and thrive. 
Against the Stream are left to strive ; 
Wou'd be industrious, had we Pence, 
Their Industry to recompence : 
But to be paid with Indian Weed, 
In Parcels, will not answer Need. 
It's true, we may this Thread of Life 
Spin out, in Penury and Strife ; 

14 Like Aesop's Swain, did Jove desire 
To help his Cart out of the Mire ; 
To Jupiter at last apply. 

For Help in our Extremity. 

But Jove no Ear will lend to those. 

That are their own unhappy Foes. 

Then let us seriously reflect 

Upon the worst we may expect, 

Which is, with idle Drones to starve ; 

A Doom we justly do deserve : 

Whilst blest with all Things here below. 

That God and Nature can bestow, 

To make us happy, would we be 

Industrious as the frugal Bee, 

That visits each mellifluous Flower, 

To load with Tyme, her wooden Bower.'^^'^' 

And tho a rich and fertile Soil, 

As e're was water'd by the Nile, 



45 



15 Has luckily fell to our Share : 
Yet maugre all our seeming Care : 
We Strangers to the Goddess are. 
Bright Ceres f whom the Poets feign, 
To till the Ground, instructs the Swain, 
By Industry t^improve his Lands, 
Without the help of Savage Hands. 

This is our Case, and will, I fear, 

Grow worse and worse, the Course we steer. 

Are grown too populous to thrive, 

Upon a nauseous Vegetive.'^^^^ 

And tho' the Law remains in Force, 

The Market keeps its ebbing Course ; 

And will, unless, we settle here, 

A Jubilee ^^^^ once in Five Year. 

But as that may not take Perchance^ 

I will another Scheme advance, 

16 Will do, says the projecting Don : 
And thus in serious Tone went on. 

All Taxables ^^^ work in the Ground, 
Both Male and Female that are sound. 
Should be allowed Six Hundred Weight, 
Of Sotweed good, and fit for Freight, 
To plant ; and be that dares tend more, 
ShouM wear the Broad E. ^^^^ on his Door : 
Remain in Miser ieordiaP^^ 
'Till he the Fine in Specie pay. 
Merchants likewise, our Staple buy, 
Shou'd be obligM in Currency, 
Or Bills, for the Sixth Part, to pay 
Upon the JSTail,^^^ without Delay : 
The rest in Goods, at common Sale, 
Or be committed, without Bail. 
And that we may the better thrive ; 
Which is the Business of the Sivey 

17 We ought conveniently to dwell 

In Towns and Cities,^'^^^ buy and sell 
Our Merchandize at publick Scales. 
And as it often rains and hails. 
Warehouses should in common be 
Erected ; where, for a small Fee, 



46 



Our Staple would be conveyed thither, 
Securely screened from stormy Weather. 
There, free from anxious needless Care, 
We may, at Leisure, vend our Ware ; 
Barter for Goods, as hath been said : 
And ready Cash, that must be paid, 
Our publick Duties to defray, 
And old Arrears of Quit-Rents ^^^ pay. 
A Tax equivalent has laid 
Upon TohaccOj must be paid. 
By Merchants, that the same Export, 
In Bills, before it quits the Port. 

18 But what is worst for Patent ^^^^ Lands, 
By others held, it Debtor stands. 

I must confess, 'tis j ust and true. 
That Caesar should be paid his Due : 
But one Man to monopolize 
More Land, than yet he occupies. 
And Foreigners the Quit-Rents pay. 
In Sterling Coin, is not fair Play : 
A Grievance ought to be suppressed. 
By Ways and Means, Caesar knows best. 
Thus, has our Staple of small Worth, 
To many Evils given Birth : 
That like III Weeds, unhappy Case, 
As says the Proverb, grows a-pace ; 
Which, to prevent. Physicians say. 
Our Laws chalk out a wholesome Way : 
But what is so, to speak the Truth, 
Does not agree with every Tooth ; 

19 Nor will the strictest penal Laws, 
Contrived by Statesmen, strike the Cause. 

The only Way I know to heal 

The ling'ring State of Common-weal, 

Is to ordain all Taxes be. 

As well the Priest, as Lawyer^s Fee, 

Hereafter paid in Currency ; 

Or with the Produce of our Grounds, 

In Stinhehus '^^''^ too much abounds ; 

Else, 'tis in vain for us to hope. 

With our Misfortunes long to cope. 



47 



Moke wou'd loquatious Don have said, 
Had Morpheus not come to my Aid, 
The God of Sleep, with Leaden Charms, 
LockM up the Planter in his Arms : 
Where silent as the Night he lay, 
Till Phosphor usher'd in the Day. 



20 CANTO III. 

SCARCE had the Goddess of the Night, 

Resigned her Throne to Phoebus bright ; 

When calling for a Quart Decanter 

Of Sachj I thus haranguM the Planter : 

Rise, Oroonoko, rise, said I, 

And let us drink Prosperity 

To Maryland, before we part ; 

Starting, says he, with all my Heart. 

I wish my Country very well : 

And tho^ the Press ^^^^ with Schemes does swell, 

To make us thrive at Home the better. 

As P. P. tells us in his Letter, 

If Planters wou'd be ruPd by me, 

I will their best Physician be : 

21 Prescribe the Means, wou'd, I am sure. 
If rightly applyM, work a Cure. 

FiEST, let them Swamps and Marshes drain, 

Fit to receive all Sorts of Grain, 

Hemp, Flax, Pice ; and let Cotton ^^^^ here. 

In all its Autumn Dress appear : 

One Bale of each, more Pence will yield 

In Europe, than the richest Field 

Of Oroonoko, I am sure. 

If nicely handled in the Cure. 

Next, may their Industry be seen. 
In Pastures fat, and Meadows green ; 
Where Sheep and Cattle manure Ground, 
In mighty Numbers shouM abound. 
The Hides will for their Grazing pay, 
And Wool Misfortunes keep in Play, 



48 



22 Of those, must either work or starve, 
Obliged for Wife and Beams to carve : 
MechanicJcs then of ev'ry Sort, 
And Mariners wou'd here resort, 
When they hear Money circulates. 
Within our Towns and City Gates. 

But as this Land, like Albion^s Isle, 

Is compos'd of a different Soil, 

So some should plant, some drive the Plow ; 

And such as Hemp and Flax know how 

To dress, shouM exercise the Brake ; ^^°^ 

But not permitted be to make 

More Grain, or other Merchandize, 

Than may their Hands and Stocks suffice : 

Nor should Crop Merchants correspond. 

On t'other Side the Herinng-Pondp^^ 

23 Their pick'd and cull'd Tobacco send. 
In weighty Cask, to some sly Friend, 
Unless in Vessels of their own, 
And Ships here built, as shall be shewn. 

But then, perhaps, it will be said. 

By those (to venture) are afraid. 

How shall these floating Castles be 

EquippM, and fitted for the Sea ? 

A Doubt not difficult to solve, 

Wou'd such (in Pence abound) resolve. 

As the Phoenicians did of old, 

To plow the Seas in Vessels bold ; 

Which Draft-men ^^^^ best know how to mould 

Materials here, of every kind, 

May soon be found, were Youth inclined, 

To practice the ingenious Art 

Of Sailing, by Mercator^s Chart. 

24 The Woods with Timber Trees abound ; 
Near North- East, ^^^ L^on may be found, 
The best that ever yet was made, 
As Vulcans say, on Anvil laid. 
From Hemp and Flax, may Canvas Sails 
And Ropes be drawn, that seldom fails. 
In stormy Winds, to act their Part, 
If twisted well by human Art. 



.} 



49 



Nothing is wanting to compleat, 
Fit for the Sea, a trading Fleet, 
But Industry and Resolution, 
Wou'd quickly heal our Constitution, 
Were we unanimously bent. 
Impending Evils to prevent. 
Can ne'er think to grow Rich and Great, 
But by an Independant State ; 

25 Or hope to thrive, unless we try, 
With Canvas Wings abroad to fly. 
We then about the World might roam ; 
See how our Staple sells at Home ; 
Barbadoes and Jamaica drain ; 
Bring hither, from the Mines of Spain^ 
Moidores, Pistoles, and Cohhs^^^ full Weight ; 
The very best of Spanish PlateP^^ 

But whether, with us they wouM stay, 
Is a hard Task for me to say ; 
Since Current Coin, in ev'ry State, 
Invented was, to circulate : 
And to restrain it, is as hard. 
As Luna^s Motion to retard. 
Unless, by Act of Limitation, 
We cou'd make Maryland its Station ; 

26 Oblige it like the constant Sun, 
Beyond its TropicJcs not to run, 
Potomack River, (that's to say) 
And Delaware's exuberant Bay. 
But Copper-Coin, like vagrant Cain, 
Wou'd never wander into Spain, 
Or long in Misers Bags remain. 
This said, the Glass he upwards threw. 
And bending backwards, strongly drew. 
I pledged his Worship in a Brimmer; 
And thus retorted on the Sinner. 

These Sentiments, I must confess. 
Much Zeal for publick Good express : 
But when alPs done, as hath been said. 
It's Industry must force a Trade : 
Upon Mercator turn the Tables, 
And cut those Interlopers Cables. 



50 



27 In Neighbouring Barks, export your Grain 
To Islands in the Western Main. 

That's very true, the Don reply'd ; 

But they a Law have on their Side, 

For Six Months Space, ^^^^ our Hands has tyM, 

Whereby they may this Province rifle. 

And drain our Coffers for a Trifle. 

Youii Laws said I, in Time may see 
And feel their Insufficiency. 

At this Reply, the Don sat mute. 
And willing to conclude Dispute, 
I, in few Lines, the Case sum'd up, 
As Cocker ouse drank off his Cup : 
Then by the Poet be advised, 
Said I to him, seem'd much disguised ; 
His CounsePs not to be despised. 

28 Begin, be bold, old Horace cries, 
And bravely venture to be wise. 
In vain, he on the Brook Side stands. 
With Shoes and Stockings in his Hands ; 
Waiting 'till all the Stream be past and gone, 
That runs, (alas !) and ever will run on. 



FINIS. 



NOTES ON "SOTWEED REDIVIVUS." 



(1). Forward's Newgate Bands — doubtless Forward was some forgotten 
ruffian of tlie Jack Sheppard type. 

(2). The fact that Maryland had but one staple was often deplored and 
frequent attempts were made to introduce the cultivation of other agri- 
cultural products, but without success, until the settlement of the Germans 
in Western Maryland. 

(3). Annapolis was named for Queen Anne in 1696. It was previously 
known as Anne Arundel Town. 

(4). The Lower House of the General Assembly, composed of four mem- 
bers from each county and two from the city of Annapolis. 

(5). In 1730, the Legislature passed an act to encourage the importation 
of gold and silver into this province. So scarce was coin that in 1729 the 
act prohibiting clipping of coin was repealed, so that clipped coins could 
be used in making change. Tobacco was the ordinary currency. 

(6). Predial tythes — tithes "arising and renewing from the profits of 
lands." (Blackstone.) 

(7). Magisterial Port, i. e., the Country Seat. 

(8). Yellow boys, gold coin. 

(9). Dose, i. e., dram of liquor. 

(10). Hollow, i. e., Halloo. 

(11). Chink, i. e., Money. 

(12). Act of Parliament, doubtless referring here to the act of the Assem- 
bly, as the English Parliament had no jurisdiction over such local affairs. 
In 1727, an act was passed giving encouragement to make hemp within 
this Province and another concerning tobacco ; in 1728, one for improving 
the staple of tobacco ; in 1729 and in 1730, acts for ascertaining the gauge 
and tare of tobacco hogsheads and to prevent cropping, cutting, and defac- 
ing tobacco taken on board ships and vessels upon freight and for laying 
importations on tobacco per the hogshead for the support of government, 
etc. These facts show the great interest taken in the staple at this time in 
the Provincial Assembly. 

(13). Trash, worthless, unmerchantable tobacco. 

(14). Shop notes, i. e., orders on a shop for goods, bills of credit issued 
by the proprietor of the Ship. Gape Fair, query whether this should not 
be Cape Fear, North Carolina, which colony was a not uncommon refuge 
for bankrupts. 

(15). Lay out their Tubs, i. e., expend the contents of their tubs or hogs- 
heads of tobacco for expensive goods. 

51 



52 

(16). Mundungus, a Spanish word, tobacco made up into a black roll, so 
as to look like black pudding or tripe. It is interesting to note tbat Sterne 
in tbe Sentimental Journey used this word as a nickname for Frederick, 
Sixth Lord Baltimore. 

(17). Wooden bower, the beehive. 

(18). Vegetive, vegetable, plant. 

(19). The land lay fallow in the year of Jubilee, according to the 
Mosaic law. 

(20). Taxable, a person who pays, or for whom is paid a poll-tax. 

(21). Broad R — K. for rogue was branded on criminals; possibly Cooke 
proposed that the letter should be branded on the door instead of on the 
person. 

(22). Misericordia, in the power and at the mercy of the Court. 

(23). Upon the nail, at once. 

(24). The General Assembly was continually establishing towns on 
paper and the need of such towns was strongly felt. 

(25). Quit rents, an annual payment by land holders to the Lord Pro- 
prietary in discharge or acquittance of other services. 

(26). Patent Lands, lands to which the title came from a patent issued 
by the Lord Proprietary. 

(27). Siinkebus, the ill-smelling plant, tobacco. 

(28). The Press — William Parks had established the Maryland Gazette 
in 1727. 

(29). Cotton, an early reference to the importance of that staple to the 
South. Diversification of industry was a crying need of colonial Maryland. 

(30). Brake, a machine for breaking up the woody portion of flax, to 
loosen it from the harl or fibres. 

(31). Herring-Pond — note the early use of this colloquialism for the 
Atlantic Ocean. Dunton, in his Letters from New England, published in 
1688, is the first author recorded in the Oxford Dictionary as having used 
the term. 

(32). Draft-men, draughtsmen, naval architects. 

(33). Reference is to the Principio iron furnaces in Cecil County, near 
the North East River. 

(34). Moidore, a gold coin of Portugal worth about $6.50. Pistole, a 
Spanish gold coin worth about $4. Cobb, the Spanish silver piece of eight 
reals, or dollar. 

(35). /SJpanisA, PZafe, i. e,, Spanish silver ; Plata ^ silver. 

(36). Six months space, i. e., the laws allowed six months credit. 



AN 



ELEGY 

[o7i\ the Death of the Honourable Nicholas 
Lowe, Esq: 

Memor esto brevis Aevi 



"What means this Mourning, Ladies, has Death led. 
Your Brother Captive to his Earthly Bed ? 
Is Lowe to Nature's chilly Womb returned, 

Who ca]utiously the fatal Summons shunM? 

And V]ery rarely moisten would his Clay 
'For FJear he should a final Visit pay 

To t]he opacous Mansions of the Dead, 

By] Worms, vile Reptiles, be devoured. 

He]re Kings and Beggars lie, the Gulph have shot, 

Togejther blended in the general Lot ; 
"Ming]le their Dust, and into Ashes turn ; 
"Distinjguish'd only by a gilded Urn, 

The m]arble Tomb erected o'er their Pile, 

Who] sway'd the Sceptre of Great Britain^ s Isle. 

Yicto]rious DEATH, all are alike to Thee, 

The] tender Saplin and the Almond Tree ; 
^Whe]n FATE commands thou levellst with the Ground, 

The] pointed Dart gave Lowe his mortal Wound. 

No h]uman Art can brittle Life prolong. 

Our] Days are numbered and we must be gone 
'Or soon] or late to whom we do belong. 

As so] on the vigorous Youth as aged Swain, 

Nevejr, ah ! never to return again. 



54 



"Why] Should we then Lowe's Absence grieve, since all 
Have shajr'd the Punishment by Adam^s Fall 
But A]h ! Maecenas, who his Death can bear, 
His] conduct knew, and unconcerned appear. 
How cou]ld our Agent in his Winding Sheet 
[The De]athless Trunk become bound Hand and Feet, 
Oh !] not in Floods of Tears his Exit mourn 
His] Ghost surrendered with a dying Groan ; 
For] if Lowe's Life impartially we scan, 
A cautio]us, sober, charitable Man ; 
His Co]nversation innocently free, 
When] Business called him into Company 
Nor P]rone to Vice, or Immorality 
But] tho' none live so just as to be found 
'With]out some Fault that may their Conscience wound, 
Tt ca]n be said, his Character to blast. 
He liv]'d and dy'd a Batchelor at last. 



EPITAPH 

[Lo] here he lies, wrapt in his winding Sheet, 
[A] straea bound his Hands, and DEATH his Feet 
And that he might of Happiness partake, 
;JEH]0VAH did his soul to Heaven take, 

His Ha]beas Corpus mov'd his Body too, 

And] to this World he bid a long Adieu. 

Excha]nging all its gaudy Pageantry, 

For tha]t blest State of Immortality, 
[Which] Saints enjoy to all Eternity, 

BY E. Cooke. Laureat. 



NOTES ON THE "ELEGY ON NICHOLAS LOWE." 



The volume of the newspaper, in which this elegy appeared, which has 
been preserved in the Maryland Historical Society's Library, was bound so 
carelessly that the initial letters of nearly every line of the poem were cut 
off. They have been restored conjecturally and are indicated by brackets. 

Nicholas Lowe was the son of Col. Henry Lowe, of St. Mary's County, 
and Susanna Bennett, his wife. His father. Col. Henry Lowe, was a 
nephew of Lady Jane, wife of Charles, 3d Lord Baltimore. His mother, 
Susanna Bennett, was the daughter of Kichard Bennett, Jr. (died 1667), 
and granddaughter of Richard Bennett, who was Governor of Virginia, 
1652-55. Her brother, Kichard Bennett, of Bennett's Point, Queen Anne 
County, is said to have been the richest subject in America. Susanna 
Bennett was twice married ; first, to John Darnall (died 1684), brother of 
Col. Henry Darnall and a relative of the Calvert family ; and secondly, to 
Col. Henry Lowe. By the first marriage she had one daughter; by the 
second, she had a large family of children, though all her sons died 
without issue. The mother of Susanna Bennett was Henrietta Maria 
Keale, daughter of Capt. James Neale, who married, first, Richard Bennett, 
Jr. (died 1667), and secondly, Col. Philemon Lloyd (died 1685). By her 
second marriage she was the mother of the Hon. Edward Lloyd, of Wye, 
President of the Council and Acting Governor of Maryland, 1709-1714. 



55 



MUSCIPULA: 
The Mouse Trap, or the Battle of the Cambrians & the Mice 



A POEM 



BY 



EDWARD HOLDSWORTH, 



TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH 



BY 



R. LEWIS. 



ANNAPOLIS, 1728. 



(v) 




To His Excellency 

Benedict Leonard Calvert/'^ 

Governour, and Commander in Chief, in 
and over the Province of Maryland. 



PERMIT Great Sir! a Visit from 
(the Muse, 
Nor to her comic Tale your Smile refuse : 
With humble Duty she persumes to lay 
Before your curious View, — This First Essay 
Of Latin Poetry^ in English Dress, 

Which MARYLAND hath published from the Press. 
Could I preserve that Beauty in my Lays, 
Which Holdsworth's ^^^ bright Original displays ; 
I need not, then, the OriticFs Censure fear, 
Secure to please the most judicious Ear. 
But all TRANSLATORS must with Grief confess, 
that while they strive in English to express 
vi 

The pleasing Charms of Latin Poesy, 
They lose its genuine Life, and Energy : 
Some Grace peculiar thro' each Language flows. 
Which other Idioms never can disclose. 
Besides, in all Good * Poetry, we find 



■^Poetry, (says Sir John Denham in his admirable Preface before the 
Translation of the 2d .Mneid,) is of so subtile a Spirit, that in pouring 
out of One Language into Another, it will all evaporate; and if a nev7 
Spirit be not added in the Transfusion, there will remain nothing but a 
Caput Moriuum. 



60 

DEDICATION 

A Spirit of a most exalted kind : 

To pour it off, in vain the Artist tries, 

The subtile Spirit in Transfusion flies 

And the insipid Version^ lifeless lies. 

These Hardships, on the happiest Muse, attend, 

With Candor, then, my artless Verse befriend : 

Nor Here, expect such ^^ soft enchanting Strains, ^^ 

As once You heard on fair Italian Plains; 

Where, the kind Climate does the Muse inspire 

With Thoughts sublime, and gay poetic Fire ; 

Where Yikgil, Ovid, Horace, struck the Lyre: 

Who still demand our Wonder, and our Praise; 

Nor spite, nor Time, shall ever blast their Bays. 

vii 

There Painture breathes, There Statuary lives, 

And Music most delightful Rapture gives : 

There, pompous Piles of Building pierce the Skies, 

And endless Scenes of Pleasure court the Eyes. 

While Here, rough Woods embrown the Hills and Plains^ 

Mean are the Buildings, artless are the Swains : 

" To raise the Genius,'' W E no Time can spare, 

A bare Subsistence claims our utmost Care. 

But from the Gen'rous Purpose of Your Heart, 

Which, in f Your Speech ^^^ you graciou&ly impart ; 

To give to Virtue its deserved Applause, 

To punish daring Vice, by wholsom Laws; 

To animate the People, now dismayed. 

And add new Life to our declining Trade; 

We hope to see soft Joys overspread the Land, 

And happier Times derived from Your Command. 

For should Your Excellency's Plan take Place, 

Soon will returning Plenty shew its Face : 

The Markets for our Staple, l^^^ would advance, 

Nor shall we live, as now we do, by Chance. 

viii 

No more, the laboring Planter shall complain 
How vast his Trouble ! but how small his Gain ! 

THE Mariner shall bless you, when releast 
From Toil, which sunk him down from Man to Beast. 



t Oct. 10, 1727. 



61 
DEDICATION 

The Merchant, shall applaud your Care, to free 

His freighted Vessel from the Wintry Sea. 

And Husbands, Brothers, Sons, from Shipwreck save'd, 

In Climes remote, with Joy shall be receivM ; 

And thankful, tell their Mothers, Sisters, Wives, 

That You, next PKOYIDENCE, preserved their Lives. 

WHEN Records, which to You, their Being owe, 
These Acts to late Posterity shall show ; 
Our Children's Children shall extol Your Name, 
And Your's shall equal your great Grandsire's Fame, 
Him, shall they stile the Founder of the State, 
From YOU its Preservation shall they date. 
Oh, may kind Heaven regard me, while I pray. 
That these great Blessings, might attend Your Sway ! 
May Peace harmonious, in our Councils reign. 
And no Dissensions make their Meeting vain ! 
ix 

May the Prerogative receive no Wound, 
And Privilege preserve its proper Bound ! 
May All our Senators, with honest Zeal, 
To Private Gain prefer the Public Weal ! 
Then, shall Their Actions due Applause obtain. 
And Arts Polite, shall shine in this Domain; 
Then, shall some future Bard Their Praise rehearse; 
And paint Your happy Rule in never-dying Verse, 
But while thus fondly I persue my Rhyme, 
And trespass on Your Excellency's Time, 
Against the Public I commit a Crime. 

YET — hear me ! — while I beg you to excuse, 
This bold Intrusion of an unknown Muse; 
And if her Faults too manifest appear. 
And her rude Numbers should offend your Ear, 
Then, if you please with your forgiving Breath, 
Which can reprieve the Wretch condemn^, from Death, 
To speak a Pardon for her Errors past. 
This First Poetic Crime, shall prove her Last. 



« 



THE 

PKBFACE. 



THE enexpected Encouragement, which hath 
been given to the folloioing Translation, is, 
I must acknowledge, much greater than it 
merited : But that I might in some Mea- 
sure, deserve the Benevolence, with which 
this small Performance hath been enter- 
tained, I have endeavoured to render it 
more perfect than it appeared in the Copy, which was pre- 
sented to the Subscribers : On this Account the Publication 
hath been deferred, for some Time ; but that Delay, will I 
hope be excused, when it is known, that I have translated 
the greatest Part of the Poem a-new ; and have printed the 
Latin with it, that my Friends may find some Satisfaction in 
the Oi'iginal, if my Version should have the Ill-fortune to 
displease them. 

It would be disingenuous not to confess that there are 
many Faults in this Piece ; but it would be a needless Act 
of Humility, to point them out, particularly ; since, by 
printing the Latin and English in one View, they will easily 
be discovered ; and however imprudent I may be thought, 
for setting my Failures in so clear a Light, yet I persuade 
my self, that Men of Learning will treat me with Indulgence, 
because they are sensible that it is very difficult to succeed 
happily, in translating Poetry. Mr. Dryden, an approved 

Judge, 



64 

The PREFACE xi 

Judge, in Things of this Nature, in his Preface to OvicVs 
Epistles, hath enumerated the Hardships, which a Translator 
must undergo, in rendriug an Author, into English Verse, 
especially Rhyme : And my Lord Roscommon, is allowed to 
speak very justly, in the Motto of my Title-page, where he 
says, that Good Translation is no easy Art. 

I am not so arrogant, as to call This a Good^ Translation, 
but since it is acknowledged, to be a Matter of much Dif- 
ficulty, to translate well ; I hope to pass at least uncon- 
demn'd, if It appears to be but a tolerable Version ; and that 
my English Readei's will not be displeased with an Attempt, 
to shew them a Draught of a celebrated Poem, though it 
falls vastly short of the Beauties of its Original. 

THAT I might do my Author all the Justice in my 
Powder, I have avoided the Libertinism of a Pai^ajphrast, 
on one Hand, and the Idolatry of a mere literal Translator, on 
the other. The Sentiments of an Original, ought to be pre- 
served, with all possible Exactness, but they are too frequent- 
ly disregarded in a Paraphrase Translation. And nothing 
can be more ridiculous, and unentertaining, than a too 
faithful Attachment to the Phrase of a Writer ; and a tyran- 
nic Endeavour, to confine a Latin Poet, to express his 
Thoughts, in English, by the same Number of Lines, and 
Words, which He thought sufficient for that Purpose, in the 
Roman Language. 

THIS Poem, is of the Mock Heroic, or Buidesque Kind, 
of which, there are two Sorts. One, describes a ludicrous 
Action, in Heroic Verse ; such is The Rape of the Loch : The 
Other under low Characters, and in odd, uncommon Numbers, 
debases some great Event; as Butler has done, in his cele- 
brated Hudibras ; which would have been still more truly 
comical in the Opinion of an excellent Judge, if it had been 
written in the Heroic Measure. 

I am sensible that Performances of the mirthful Sort, are 
looked upon as Trifles, by many serious Persons ; and my 
Readers of that Temper, may think the Time mispent, 
which was imployed in translating this Piece : But as an 
Example of the same Nature, may moderate the Rigor 
of their Judgement ; I shall take Leave to inform them, 
that Dr. Parnell, the ingenious Author of an Essay on Homer ^ 

prefixed 



65 
xii The PEEFACE 

prefixVl to Mr. Pope^^ Version of the Iliad, hath translated 
Horaer^s Battle of the Frogs and Mice, and gives this Account 

of it : ^' The Batrachomyomachia, is one of Horaer^s in- 

' contestable Works ; and however it has been disputed, is 
' allowed for His, by many Authors : Amongst whom 
'Statins (in his Praef. ad Sylv. I.) hath reckon'd it like 
' the Calex of Virgil, a Tryal of his Force before his greater 
' Performances. It is indeed a beautiful Piece of Rallery, 
^in which a great Writer may delight to unbend himself; 
^an instance of that agreeaVjle Trifling, which hath been 
^at some Time or other indulged by the finest Genius's, 
*and the Offspring of that amusing and cheerful Humour, 
^ which generally accompanies the Character of a rich 
' Imagination, like a Vein of Mercv/ry running with a 
^Mine of Gold.'' 

LET me not then be blamed for imitating the Diversions 
of the most sublime Writers; and admit this other Plea in 
my Behalf, that Translations from Latin into Eriglish, are 
the most certain Means of Improvement, in each of those 
Tongues ; and therefore, an Exercise of this kind, cannot 
be thought improper for One who is engaged in teaching 
Language. This slight Attempt in Poetry, has been, to 
Me, a pleasing Amusement, in the Intervals of a very fa- 
tiguing Employment ; and I have the more readily given in- 
to this Entertainment, because I thought it innocent : For I 
assure my Pi^eaders, that I had no intention to derogate 
from the Honour of the Cambrians, or their celebrated 
St. David; nor does That appear to be the Design of 
my Author; for he averrs to his Patron, ^^That he should 
"have been very base, if he had intended by this Trifle, 
"to cast a Reproach on so illustrious a Xation as the Welsh; 
"but that this Recreation of his Muse, was of too 
"light a Xature, to detract in the least, from the Fame of 
"the Cambro-Britons, or affurd any just Occasion for blam- 
"ing the Author, — however he may be condemmed by 
"testy Judges.^' 

B UT if the Cambrians will not allow the Author's Excuse ; 
the Translator hopes to be acquitted by those Gentlemen, 
on account of the Annotations, at the End of the Piece ; 
which he hath collected, that the true Brito'os, for whom 

he 



66 

The PKEFACE xiii 

he professes all due VeueratioD, might receive that Justice 
from the Notes to the House-Trap, which seeais to be denied 
them in the Poem. 

M Y Friends, to whom I am obliged for the Subscriptions 
to my first Production, are desired to accept my Thanks 
for their Good- Will towards me; and as I have not the 
Pleasure of a Personal Acquaintance with many of them, I 
thought it my Duty to acknowledge their Favours by print- 
ing their Names, though it may look as if I was rather in- 
dulging my own Vanity, than discharging a Debt of Gra- 
titude, while I mention in this publick manner, those Fa- 
vours which it is an Honour to ME, to have receivM. 

FOR my own Part, I have too mean an Opinion of 
my self to suppose this Honour was paid to my Merit ; but 
attribute the Civilities I have found, to a generous Dispo- 
sition in the Province, to encourage Learning-, and I hope, 
some abler Hand may be excited to entertain the Public, 
after a more elegant Manner, when it shall appear from the 
subsequent List, that the smallest Attempt to cultivate po- 
lite Literature, in MARYLAND, has been received 
with such ample Testimonies of Candor and Generosity. 



A LIST 



(xiv) 



LIST 

OF THE 

SUBSCRIBERS NAMES. 

His Excellency 
BENEDICT LEONARD CALVERT 

For Ten Boohs. 



A. Books. 

Mr. Moses Adney 

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Mr, John Ashman 

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B. 

CoL John Baker 

John Beale, Esq-, Two 

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Mr. John Blake, Jun. 



Books. 
Mr. Charles Boot 
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Mr. George Buchanan 
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Mr. William Buckner 
3Ir. Thomas Butler Two 

C. 

The Hon. Cha. Calvert, Esq ; 

(Four 
Mr. James Carroll 

Mr. 



68 



A List of SubsG^nbers, 



XV 



Books. 

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Will. Cumming, Esq) Two 

D. 

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F. 

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G. 

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derson Two 

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J. 



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Two 
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69 



XVI 



A List of Subscribers. 



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The Hon. Phil. Lee, Esq-, Two 

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{Two 
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N. 

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Mr. George Noble 



P. 

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E. 

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Two 

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^c^^^^^^ac^^ 






MUSCIPULA, 

KAMBPOMYOMAXIA. 

MONTICOLAM Britonem qui primus Vincula 
Muri 

Finxity & ingenioso ocdusit carcere Furem, 
Lethalesq ; dolos, & inextricabile fatum 
Musa refer 



MUSCIPULA. 



■Tu Phoebe j50^ens, {nam te quoq ; quondam 



Muribus infestum dixerunt Smynthea Vates) 
faveas ; & tot Cambrorum e MontihuSj unum 
Accipiens vice Pindi, adsis, dum pingere versu 
lies tenueSj humiliq ; juvat coUudere musa. 

M US, inimicum animal, praedari, & vivere rapto 
Suetum, impune diu, spolii qua innata libido 
Jusserat, erravit, sceleratam exercuit artem 
Impavidus, saliensq; hine illinc, cuncta maligno 
Co7Tupit dente, & patind male lusit in omni. 
Nil erat intactum, sed ubiq; domesticus hostis 
Assiduus conviva aderat, non moenia furtis 



THE 

MOUSE-TRAP, 

OR THE 

BATTLE (a) of the CAMBRIAJN^S 
and MICE. 

THE MOUNTAIN-DWELLi:^rG BRI- 
TON who designed 
A MOUSE-TRAP first, and safe in Jail 

confine'd 
His thievish Foe ; — th' inextricable fate 
Th' ingenious deathful wiles, O Muse relate ! 

(a) See the Notes at the End. 

The MOUSE-TRAP. 

Thou potent PHOEBUS ! (for as Poets sing, 

TO MICE, thou once didst great destruction bring ; 

Whence, in their Writings, (6) SMYNTHEUS is thy 

name,) 
Be present, and propitious to my Theme ! 
For one of (c) CAMBRIA'S Hills, quit (d) PINDUS' 

Mount, 
While I, in lowly Lays, do humble Deeds recount. 

THE MOUSE, a noxious animal of prey, 
By rapine fed, uupunishM, wont to stray 
Where innate lust of plunder led the way, 
Persu'd his wicked arts without controll, 
And fearless, did in peace and plenty roll. 
Now here, now there he rovM, a nimble thief, 
Each dish debauching with malignant teeth. 
Nothing was left untouched, at every feast 
The Household-Foe was an assiduous guest; 
Nor bars nor walls his ravage could resist. 



72 
6 



Ohstare, aut vectes poterant servare placentas 
Robustaeve fores ; qud non data porta, peredit 
Ipse sibi introitum, dapibusq ; indulsit inemptis, 

PESTIS at haec totum dum serpsit inulta "per orbem, 
Cambria praecipue flevit, quia Caseus illic 
Multus olety quern Mus non aequ6 ao plurima, libat, 
Aut leviter tantum arrodit, sed dente frequenti 
Excavaty interiusq; domos exculpit edules, 

GENS tota incensa est super his, rabiesq; dolor q; 
Discrudant animos, frendent, jug a summa per err ant y 
Stare loco ignorant ; nam Cambris prona furori 
Corda calent, subitdq ; ignescunt pectora bile, 
Cum Digitis credas animos quoq; Sulphure tinctos. 



8 



ERGO, jubente Ird, dignas cum sanguine paenas 
Sumere decretum est, sed qud ratione Latronem 
Tam cautum illaqueent, quo vindicefurta repellant 
Incertum ; neque Felis enim tua, Cambre, tueri 
Tecta, nee adversis poterat succurrere rebus. 
Ilia quidem varias posuit eircum or a Cavernae 
Insidias, tacitoq ; pede ad cava limina repens 
Excubias egit ; frustrd : Mus nempe pusillo 
Cor pore securus, tanto & praestantior hoste 
Quo minor, intentum praedae si/orti videret 
Custodem ante fores, retro irruit, inq; recessus 
Aufugit curvos, atq ; invia Felibus antra : 



73 



Unsafe were cakes, within the strongest gates, 

Thro' them a passage for himself he eats ; 

With unbought dainties he regaFd his taste, 

And by his conquering teeth laid strongest bulwarks waste. 

WHILE thro' the Globe this Plague resistless creeps, 
CAMBRIA thereby afflicted, chiefly weeps ; 
For there much CHEESE emits a sav'ry scent. 
Which gave the MOUSE more fullness of content 
Than other kinds ; with which, in wanton waste, 
He, slightly-nibbling, gratifies his taste ; 
In This, with frequent teeth he form'd a cave ; 
Which at one time, both food and shelter gave. 

WHEN thus insulted, the whole Nation burns, 
And Grief and Rage perplex their Minds by Turns ; 
They gnash their teeth, and restless, shift their place. 
And o'er the mountains take their wand'ring ways : 
For CAMBRIAN hearts soon glow with native ire. 
Such sudden passion does their breasts inspire, 
You'd think their sulph'rous HANDS had set their 

SOULS on fire. 

BY Fury prompted, they at once decree 

To kill the MOUSE, and set the Nation free. 

But then, alas ! no human art could show 

How to entrap so vigilant a Foe : 

Nor could thy CAT the suff 'ring State befriend, 

O CAMBRIAN ! or thy domes from foes defend. 

Oft'times, indeed, in Ambuscade she lay. 

That thus she might her enemy betray ; 

Soft-creeping, then, she to his cavern stole. 

And watch'd. with sharpen'd Sight, the mazy Hole. 

Vain were her Arts, the MOUSE, uncurs'd with bulk, 

Around the passes of his den would skulk ; 

And if he saw the CAT, intent on prey. 

Besiege his Fort, soon backward took his way, 

To winding dark recesses made his flight. 

And Caves invisible to CATTISH sight ; 



74 
10 



Inde caput metuens iterUm proferre, nee ausus 
Excursus tentare novoSy nisi castra moveret 
Praedo, atq ; omne aberat vigili cum Fele pericHum, 

SIC Cambri (Cambros liceat componere Muri) 
Elusere HosteSy cum Julius, orbe suhacto, 
Imperio adjecit Britonas ; sic nempS recessit 
Ad latehras Gens tota, & inexpugnabile vallum. 
Monies ; sic sua saxa inter , medioq ; ruinae 
Delituit tutay & desperans vincere, vinci 
Noluit ; hinc priscos memorant longo ordine Patres, 
Indomitasq; crepant Terras, Linguaeq; senectam. 



12 

F E L I N O S igitur postquam Mus saepiUs ungues 

Fugerat, & Britoni Spes non erat ulla salutis 
A socio Belli, supremo in limite Terrae 
Concilium accitur, qud nunc Menevia plorat 
Curtatos Mitrae titulos, c& nomen inane 
Semi-sepultae TJrhis ; proper ant hinc inde frequentes 
Patresq ; Proceresq ; & odorum Sulphure vulgus, 

T UM Senior, cui saep^ suis in Montihus Hircus 
Prolixam invidit barbam ; cuiq ; ora manusq ; 
Prisca incrustavit Scabies, spectabilis auld 
Stat medid, fractus senio, Postiq ; reclinis 
Cambrorum vexato humeris ; Sc gutture ab imo 



75 
11 

JSTor new excursions daring thence to make, 
Unless the Spoiler should the Camp forsake ; 
With fearful Caution he conceard his head, 
Till with GKIMALKIN all the danger fled. 

THE CAMBRIANS thus escaped the raging war, 
(If we to MICE may CAMBRIAXS compare,) 
"When mighty (e) JULIUS by his dreadful Sword, 
Compell'd the conquer'd Globe to call him Lord ; 
While their poor neighbor BRITONS were subdu'd. 
The CAMBRIANS did his potent Arms elude ; 
Thus to their Mountains the whole Nation fled, 
Ramparts impregnable, by Nature made : 
Despair of Conquest drove them from the Field, 
Yet still their haughty Souls disdain to yield ; 
Amidst their Rocks and Ruins they retreat, 
There safely lurking, they preserved the State ; 
Hence their most tedious pedigrees they boast, 
Their Antique Tongue, and (/) Freedom never lost. 
13 

T H ' insulting MOUSE did now the arms defy 
Of CAMBRIA, and GRIMALKIN, her Allie : 
With bold incursions he disturbed their rest. 
And bauish'd hope from every BRITISH breast. 
At length a solemn Council by command. 
Meets on th^ extremest limit of the land. 
Where now {g) St. DAVID'S does her Fate deplore, 
An empty Name ; her Prelates are no more. 
Half-buried sinks her City on the Shore. 
Elders and Nobles here promiscuous crowd, 
With those whose sulphurous scent confess'd their vulgar 

blood. 

THE SENIOR then, whose beard prolix had been 

By Mountain-Goats with envv often seen : 

With Scurf incrusted were his hands and face, 

A Scurf hereditary to his Race, 

Conspicuous, in the midst assumes his place : 

His limbs decrepit Against a post recline'd. 

Which, polished by the backs of CAMBRIANS, shine'd 



76 

14 



Densas praecipitans VoceSy non inquit aperto 

De hello sedfurto agitur ; non exterus hostis, 

8ed majus graviusq ; malum, nimis intimus hospeSy 

Compulit hue populum ; dominahitur usq ; Tyrannus 

M-Us petulansf Vos ergo Patres, venerabilis Ordo, 

Qu^is patriae pretiosa salus, finite dolor es 

Consilio tantos, & si spes ulla supersit, 

Propitias adhibete manus ; sic Cadwalladeri 

Dum clarescat honos, vestra hie quoq ; gloria crescet, 

DIXITy <Sc ante oculos fragmenta, & mucida tollens, 
Frustula, Relliquias furti, monumenta rapinae, 
Exacuit Cambrorum iras : Nunc aemulus Ardor 



16 

Vindidaey nunc laudis amor, sub pedore Patrum 

Ardety inauditam meditatur quisq ; ruinam 

Muri, Muscipulamq ; statim extudit omne cerebrum. 

A T quidam ante alios notus Oognomine Taffi, 
Et Magis ingenio Celebris y (cui Wallia nunquam 
jEqualem peperity Faber idemy idemq ; Senator 
Eximius,) sic orsus erat ; si gloria Gentis 
Caseus intereaty metuo ne tota colonum 
Deficiat coenay dc Mensae decus omne Secundae 
Divitibus pereat ; quoniam ergo Wallica virtus 
Et Feles nequeant superare haec Monstray fabrilis 
Dextera quid possity quid machina vafra doliq ; 
Experiar ; ^^ Dolus y an virtus quis in hoste requiritf^^ 



77 

15 

From his deep throat the clustring accents broke 

Precipitant, and thus aloud he sppke : 

Not open War constrains us here to meet, 

But private Theft, impoverishing our State ; 

An Inmate-Guest, and not a foreign foe, 

Excites our deepest grief, our weightiest woe ; 

Shall MICE, with petulancy armM, maintain, 

Maugre our best efforts, their tyrant-reign ? 

Ye FATHERS ! whose Degree we all revere, 

If to your hearts the Common- weal be dear. 

Let your sage Counsels yield us some relief, 

And with your helping hands remove our load of grief; 

Thus, while (h) CADWALLADER'S bright fame shall 

live, 
So long to you shall men due honour give, 

H E said, and raised the scraps of CHEESE in view, 
Unsightly fragments, of a mouldy hue ; 
Reliques of theft, and monuments of spoil ; 
With rancrous Rage the CAMBRIAN Bosoms boil : 
17 

And now revenge, and now the love of Praise, 
Does in their breasts an emulous ardor raise ; 
Each vows the foe shall feel unheard-of pain, 
And MOUSE-TRAPS in Idea fill each brain. 

BUT one, whose Cunning was diffused by Fame, 

Beyond the rest, and TAFFY was his name, 

(Black-smith and Senator, sublime he shone 

In each Capacity; — his equal none 

Was ever born in WALES,) to speak begun : 

Great are the fears which my poor breast assail. 

Lest CHEESE, the glory of our Nation fail ; 

Then shall the Plowman his whole supper lose. 

Nor can the Rich their SECOND COURSE produce ; 

Since CAMBRIAN valour yields us no relief. 

Nor can our CATS oe'rcome the monster thief, 

1^11 try what this mechanic hand can do. 

If guileful Traps will these our Foes subdue ; 

" And when Success an Enemy attends, 

"Who asks if FRAUD, or FORCE obtained his Ends? 



78 

18 

TA LI A jactantem circumstant undiq ; fixis 

Saerentes oculisy sperataq; gaudia laeto 
Murmure certatim testantur, & unde salutem 
Promissam expectent, rogitant, ardentque doceri, 

IL L E caput scalpenSf (nam multilm scalpere Cambris 

JExpedit) horrendUm subrisitj 6c ora resolvens 

Talia verba refert Gumfessus membra quieti 

Hesternd sub node dedij & sopor obruit alius 

Lumina, Mus audax sedatus, opinor, odores 

Quos non concodus pingui exhalavit ab ore 

Caseus, accessit fu7'tim, & compage solutis 

Faucibus irrepsit, jamque ipsa in viscera lapsus, 

Grudas ventris opes rapere, hesternamque paravit 

Heu ! maU munito furari ^ gutture caenam ; 
20 

Excussus subitd somnis, sub dente Latronem, 

Dum resilire parat, p^^ensi, frustrdque rebellem 

Mordaci vinculo astrinxi : Sic carcere Murem, 

Posse capi instrudus, nova mox ergastula, mecum 

Haec meditans, statui fabricare, animoque catenas 

Effinxi tales, mihi quas suggesserat oris 

Gaptivus. Mirum ! quali regit omnia lege 

Dextra arcana Jo vis ! Qucim caecis passibus err at 

G'ausarum series ! Nobis Mus ipse salutem 

Invitus dedity & quos attulit ante dolores 

Toller e jam docuit ; neve hunc habuisse magistrum 

Vos pudeat, Patres ; ^^Fas est vel ab Hoste doceri.'^ 



79 

19 

I N joyful murmurs, the surrounding throng 

Applaud the boastful accents of his tongue ; 

With wishful Eyes they beg their promised joys, 

And, ardent, hope their safety from his voice. 

HE scratched his head, (for to the CAMBRIAN race 

Scratching yields much delight,) with horrid grace 

He sneer'd, and then wide-gaping, thus he said ; 

Last night, when deepest sleep my eyes overspread, 

And wrapt my weary limbs in soft repose, 

A daring MOUSE, attracted I suppose 

By unconcocted CHEESE, in odorous fumes 

Exhaling from my greasy mouth, presumes 

Thro^ my dissevered teeth to steal his way. 

And make the treasure of my guts his prey ; 



21 

Which quickly would have been the dire event. 
Had not I, waking, spoiPd his curs'd intent ; 
Shut fast my mouth, to hold the glutton-thief, 
And made our Foe the captive of my teeth : 
Struggling, the Rebel strove to ^scape, in vain ; 
Tenacious bonds his backward flight restrain. 
Thus when I was by sure experience taught 
That MICE might be in artful Prisons caught, 
Musing thereon, such fetters I design'd, 
As first the Foe suggested to my mind. 
O ! by what mystick law does JOYE^S right hand, 
Wond^rous to thought, the Universe command ! 
Thro' what blind mazes mio-htv causes err ! 
A Series, in '^ confusion regular " ! 
The MOUSE, unwilling, mollifies our grief, 
And he, who gave the wound, now brings relief ; 
Nor for the teacher's sake the skill despise, 
^Tis no disgrace to learn what Foes advise. 



80 

22 

HJE C uhi dicta, domum repetit, comitantur euntem 

Plaudentes populi, atgue henigna lahoribus optant 
Omina. Turn celeri sua quisque ad limina cursu 
Nuneius it, Laribusque refert, quae munera Taffi 
Ingenio speranda forent ; dumque ordine narrant 
Omnia, dumque Deis ut tarda incoepta secundent, 
Votaferunt, monitae praesago pedore Feles, 
Plus solito lusere, & {si fas credere Famae) 
Sub manibus matrum saliere coagula lactis. 

Interea TAFFI manibusque animoque vicissim 
Instat magno operi, <Sc ^' Divind Palladis arte 
Muscipulara aedificat " ; fit machina mira, novaque 
Induitur vultus specie Tragi-comica moles, 

24 

Q TJIN age, si tibi, Musa, vacat, spectacula pandas 

Infantis fabricae, & percurrens singula, totam 

Compagem expedias. Quadrati lamina ligni 

Summum imumque tegit ; Filorum ferreus or do 

Munit utrumque lotus, parvisque uti Julia columnis 

Stat domus ; Introitus patet insidiosus, amicum 

Muribus hospitium ostentans ; sed desuper horret 

Janua, perniciem minitans, tenuique Ruina 

Suspensa est Filo ; {usque adeb sua stamina Parcae 

Muribus intexunt, & pendent omnia Filo.) 

In summo tecti, medidque in parte tabellae, 

Stat lignum, erectum, scisso cum vertice, cui Trabs 

Parvula transversim inseritur, just^que libratas 

Utrinque extendit palmas, quarum altera quantum 

Deprimitur, tantUm annexam levat altera Portam. 



81 

23 

H E said^ and to his mansion strait repairs ; 
Th^ applauding throng accompany with Pray'rs, 
And wish good omens may attend his cares. 
Swift-running then they seek their own abodes, 
And fondly tell before their house-hold Gods, 
What public blessings they expect to gain, 
From some brave work of TAFFY'S pregnant brain ; 
And while they ev'ry circumstance repeat, 
And humbly, from the Gods success intreat. 
The CATS admonished, with presageful mind, 
"Were more than usually to play incline'd, 
And milky curds, (if we may credit Fame,) 
Dancing beneath her hands, amaze'd each Dame. 

MEAX-TIME withhead, and hands, great TAFFY tries 
To frame the mighty work, his dire deyice. 
At length, he builds a MOUSE-TRAP ; which was made 
Like the fame'd (i) TROJAX HORSE, by PALLAS' aid : 
Appears the TRAGI-COMIC pile in view, 
A dread Machine, most wonderful and new. 
25 

AND thou, my Muse, if time admits Delay, 
The infant-fabric trace with swift survey. 
And the whole structure, in each part, display ! 
Quadrangular in form, the roof, and floor. 
Of two flat boards are made ; plain and secure : 
Each side is guarded with a steely row 
Of wires, which like to slender columns show, 
FixM on these slender columns stands the house, 
Th' insidious open entrance shews the MOUSE 
An hospitable Inn, — but o'er his head, 
Threatning destruction, by a feeble thread 
A gate suspended, fills the heart with dread ; 
(Alike, on MEX and MICE, the Fates attend, ^ 
Their Lives, alike, on feeble Threads depend ; I 

Which, when the (/:) CRUEL SISTER cuts alike [ 

(their Days must end. J 
Amid the roof, a post is seen to rise. 
Which holds a transverse beam, of smaller size. 
On either side, its well-pois'd arms extend. 
The one depress'd, the other must ascend, 



82 

26 

Interiore domo, per Teeti exile foramen 

Demissum pendet ferrum, quod mobile ludit 

Silc illitcfacili tactu; curvatur in Hamum 

Infima pars, Escamque tenet ; Pars altera prendit 

Perfidiosa trahem extremam, at cUm senserit Hostem 

Lethales gustdsse cibos, mora nulla, solutam 

Dimittit Portam, primumque uldscitur ictum. 

mS ita dispositiSy pendentem prolines hamum 

Induit insidijs TAFFI, exitiosaque Muri 

Ipsa Alimenta faoit, sed qud fragrantior esset 

Caseus, et Murem invitaret longiUs, escam 

Fatalem torret Flammis, vimque addit odori, 
28 ^ 

JE T jam nox memoranda aderat, cum fessa cubili 

Membra levans Taffi, juxta pulvinar amicum 

Muscipulam statuit, fidoque satellite tutus 

Indulsit facili somno. Gens improba. Mures 

Lascivi intered exiliunt, nodisque silentis 

Praesidio confisi errant : tum naribus acer 

Mus quidam, dux eximius, Dijs natus iniquis, 

Castra inimica petit, quo grato flamine tostus 

Caseus allexit. Venienti prima resistunt 

Clathra, aditumque negant ; sed turpem ferre repulsam 

llle indignatus, mwiimina ferrea cireum 

Cursitat et crispat nasum, introitumque sagaci 

Explorat barbd ; jamque irremeabile Limen 

Ingressus, Votique potens, tristem arripit escam 

Exitiumque vorat laetus, potiturque ruind. 



83 



27 

And mounting, raise the Gate thereto annexed ; 
In a small ope^ning of the roof, is fix^d 
A pendent wire, which readily obeys 
The facil touch, and this, or that way, plays ; 
Within the house, bent to a hook by art, 
To hold the bait, appears its lower part. 
The other End, perfidious, holds the Beam, 
Where on the roof descends its arm extreme ; 
But when it feels the Foe has seized the bait, 
Down drops, without delay, the loosen'd gate, 
The first assault avenging with his Fate. 

With CHEESE, now TAFFY arms the pendent steel 
And his Foes Death, does in their food conceal, 
To which, that more it might inflame desire, 
He adds new fragrance by the force of fire. 

29 

AND now the memorable night roll'd on ; 
TAFFY to ease his weary limbs lay down, 
His friendly guardian TRAP was near him place'd, 
While with soft slumber he his labours easeM. 
Mean-time, confiding to the silent gloom. 
The MICE, lascivious, range around the room : 
Their leader, born beneath some luckless Star, 
Had smelt the flavour of the CHEESE from far ; 
Quick, to the fatal Trap he makes his way. 
And storms its pillared sides to gain the prey ; 
In vain — ! his strongest efforts they oppose ; "j 
Repuls'd, indignant, round the grates he goes, V 
And with sagacious beard, and wrinkling nose J 
Exploring, finds and passes thro' the Gate, 
Irremeable, his bane, the direful bait 
He seiz'd, and joyful, feasted on his Fate. 



84 



30 

T A F F I , exaudito strepitu^ quern pendula porta 

Lapsa dedit, cubito erigitur, thalamoque triumphans 

Exilit, impatiens discendi quis novus Hospes 

Venerat Interect furit intUs Ridiculus Mus, 

Etf route et pedibus pugnat, jamque intervallis 

Clathrorum caput impingit, Ferrumque fatigat 

Dentibus insanis. Sic olim in Retia Marsus 

Actus Aper^fremit horrendus, sinuosaque quassat 

Vincula, ludibrium Catulis, diffusa per Armos 

It spumay arrectaeque rigent in pectore setae 

P S TERA Lux oritur, decurrunt montibus altis 
Praecipites Cambri, nam cunctas venit ad aures 

32 

Res nova ; quippe Asinus, solitd gravitate remissdj 

Et jam pigritiae oblitus, lascivior Hoedo, 
Ascendit Montem, qud Cambrum, dissonus ore, 
Praeconem simulans, ter rauco gutture rudens, 
Te celebrat TAFFI, ter publica narrat amicis 
Gaudia. Bubo etiam (Cambrorum dictus ab illo 
Tempore Legatus) per compita ubique, per urbes 
Totd Nocte errans, rostrum ferale fenestris 
Stridulus impegit, cecinitque instantia Muri 
Funera, Parturiunt Montes ; atque agmine denso 
Penbrocliioe muUus ruit incola, Merviniaeque, 



85 



31 

DOWN from the hook, Lo the port-cullice falls ! 
Whose clangor from his slumber TAFFY calls, 
TAFFY, triumphant, wild with hasty joy, 
Leaps from the bed to see his welcom prey, 
Who now imprisoned, fights with teeth, and nails, 
Now madly, with his head, the grates assails ; 
And from the foe that once disturbed the house, 
Is now become a most RIDIC'LOUS MOUSE. 
Thus, (if great things with mean we may compare) 
A (I) MARSYAN Boar, compelFd into the Snare, 
His stiffening bristles rears ; — his bosom boils 
With horrid rage, — he shakes th' entangling toiles ; 
Furious, he throws the whitenM foam around, 
The Forests, echoing to his grunts, resound ; 
Fearless, the Dogs around their prey resort. 
And what was late their dread, is now their sport. 

FROM lofty mountains, with the rising day. 
Precipitant, the CAMBRIANS urge their way ; 
33 

For to each ear the pleasing news had flown. 
His wonted gravity the Ass laid down ; 
Now, nimbly-frisking, like a youthful Goat, 
He mounts a Hill ; and with discordant note, 
Hoarse, like a CAMBRIAN Cryer, thrice he brays ; 
Thrice mentions TAFFY^S name with grateful praise: 
Thrice to his Friends proclaims the public joys. 
The Owl, likewise (from that important hour 
Instyle'd the CAMBRIAN AMBASSADOUR) 
Wandering about all night, with shrilling cries. 
To ev'ry Town, thro' ev'ry Street he flies ; 
Clanging, he beats the Windows of each house. 
And sings th' approaching fun'ral of the MOUSE. 
The Mountains teem ; and thickening oe'r the plains, 
From (m) Pembroke, and (n) Mervinia rush the Swains ; 



86 

34 

Quique tenent Bonium & Mariduni moenia vote 

Inclyta Merlino; veniunt foecunda Glamorgan 
Quos ality & Vagae potor^ rigidusque colonus 
Gomerici Montis. Turn, circumstante corondy 
Illudit capto TAFFI, iratumque laeessenSy 
Nequicquam luderis, {ait) damnaberis Arae 
Victima prima meae^ memorique haec liraina tinges 
Sanguine ; Spes nulla est retro fugientibus obstans, 
Non exorandi Pastes : Dabis improbej Paenas 
Pro meritisj Vitamque simul cum Carcere linques. 

VI X ea fatus erat, cum ludicra Felis aprico 
Culmine desilijt Tectiy quo saepe solebat, 
Cruribus extensiSy molli languescere luxu. 

36 

Aspicit instantem Captivus, & erigit aures, 

Gibbosoque riget TergOy nee limen apertum 
Jam tentare audety sed in ipso Carcere solam 
Spem Libertatis ponens, sua vincula prensat 
TJnguibus hamatisy pedibusque tenadbus haeret. 
ExGutitur tamen ; & Felis rapidissima praedae 
Involat, & frustrd luctantem evader e saevo 
Implicat amplexUy crudeliaque oscula jigit. 
Nulla datur requies : agili sinuamine caudae 
Gaudia testatur Victrixy & flexile Corpus 
Lascivo versans saltUy modb corpore prono 
Attent^ invigilat Muri, modd coUoj benignis 
Unguiculis leviter palpans, mentitur amorem 



87 

35 

Those who inhabit * BANGOR swell the throng : 

The Crowd, from (o) MARIDUNUM rolls along; 

A City fameM through-out the peopled Earth, 

Prophetic MERLIN, thence derive'd his birth : 

(p) GLAMORGAN'S well-fed Sons in order came, 

And those who drink of (q) VAGA'S winding stream ; 

And they whose ploughs divide (r) MONTGOMERY'S Soil, 

A rugged race, inure'd to care, and toil. 

Th' incircling Crowd, well-pleas'd, on TAFFY waits, 

While mirthful, He, his Captive irritates ; 

Condemned to bleed, thy struggling proves but vain. 

Thou, the first Victim, shall my Altar stain; 

Inexorable grates thy flight restrain : 

Mischievous wretch ! receive thy righteous doom ! 

Depart thy Prison — but possess thy Tomb ! 

THESE, his last words, the playful CAT attends, 
And from the warm house-top, in haste descends ; 
Where, with extended legs, in times of peace, 
She use'd to languish in luxurious ease. 
37 

The Captive saw his dreadful foe appear, 

And soon, with stiffening ears, confess'd his fear ; 

With back up-heav'd, he fain would shrink from Fate, 

Yet, coward, dares not fly, but shuns the open gate ; 

Unwilling from his Prison to be free. 

In that, alone, his hopes of Liberty 

Are place'd ; — his bonds he labours to retain, 

With claws tenacious clinging to his chain : 

Superior force forbids his longer stay ; 

With swiftest speed the CAT invades her prey ; 

With cruel kisses She her foe persue'd. 

Struggling, in vain, her savage grasp t' elude : 

The Conqueror, now impatient of delay. 

Swift writhes her twirling tail to shew her joy; 

Then rolls her body in lascivious play : 

Now, couchant, sees the hapless Prisoner move ; 

Then, lightly pats his neck, and acts a treachr'ous love : 



88 
38 



Dum lacerare parat ; varid sic arte jocosam 
Barbariem exercet, lepiddque tyrannide ludit. 

A T nugis tandem defessa^ nee ampliUs Iram 
Dissimulans, acuit Denies, & more Leonis 
Impasti, incumbit praedae ; Jam pedore ab imo 
Murmuraty & tremulos artuSy & sanguine sparsa 
Viscera dilaniat. Plebs circumfusa cruorem 
Invisum aspiciens, laetis damoribus implent 
JEthera ; clamoresque Edio, Cambrae incola terrae 
Laeta refert ; resonant Plinlimmonis ardua moles, 
Et Brechin <Sc Snowdon; vicina ad sidera fertur 
PlausuSy & ingenti strepit Offae Fossa tumultu 



40 

Tu, TAFFI aeternum vives ; tua munera Cambri 

Nunc etiam celebrant, quotiesque revohitur annus 

Te memorant ; Patrium Gens grata tuetur Honorem 

Festivoque ornat redolentia Tempora Porro. 

FINIS. 



89 

39 

Jocosely bar'brous, thus, with various art, 
She plays, with cruel mirth, a Tyrant's part. 

A T length, grown weary of this trifling play, 
She grinds her teeth, and gives her Fury way : 
The Ijion, thus, his hunger to asswage. 
Incumbent o'er the prey, exerts his rage : 
Inly she growls, her pleasure to attest, 
With mangling teeth she tears his trembling breast, 
His blood be-sprinkled bowels crown her feast. 
The numerous throng, that round about her stood, 
Soon as they saw the foe's most odious blood ; 
With joyful clamours, fill th' ethereal Kound, 
ECHO, inhabitant of CAMBRIAN Ground, 
In ev'ry place repeats the joyful sound ; 
(s) BEECHIN, and (t) SNOWDEN, feel the splutter- 

(ing voice; 
And vast {u) PLINLIMMON'S Rocks remurmur to the 

(noise : 
Their loud Applauses wound the neighboring skies, 
And (w) OFFA'S distant DYKE the shouts replies. 
41 

THOU, TAFFY, shalt enjoy an endless state ! 
Thy Gifts, ev'n now, the CAMBRIANS celebrate ; 
Mindful of Thee, with each revolving Year, 
Thy patriot name they joyfully revere ; 
Grateful, they guard their national renown, 
And redolent with (x) LEEK their Temples crown. 

The END. 

Notes 



(42) 

Notes to the foregoing Piece. 

niHE Battle {a) of the CAMBRIANS and MICE.) 
Ji The Original KAMBROMYOMACHIA, is an I- 

mitation of BATRACHOMYAMACHIA, or The 
Battle of the Frogs and Mice, mentioned in the Preface ; 
from whence the Greek Motto in the Title-page is taken, 
by which it Appears, that the Trap which hath proved so 
fatal to Miee, was known to Homer : Yet the Invention 
of that destructive Machine, does not belong to his Country- 
Men the Greeks, but to the Cambrians ; if we may credit 
the Author of the Muscipula, who asserts, that his Design 
therein, was not to derogate from their Honour, but to vin- 
dicate that Dignity which justly belongs to their /amoits Na- 
tion. He acknowledges, (in his Dedication of the Piece, 
to Robert Lloyd Esq;) That the famous Actions of his 
Country-Men, would better have furnish'd sublime Images 
for an Epic Poem, than Materials for this ludicrous Per- 
formance ; yet that the glorious Atchievements of the Cam- 
brians, were not only unsuitable to a jocose Muse ; but 
that even the Latin Language, was unequal to so noble a 
Subject, and it would have been unjust, to have described 
their gallant Deeds in any other Language, than that, which 
was spoken by the Heroes who performed them. 

His only excuse, (since some People may fancy that He 
stands in Need of an Excuse,) is, That he wrote his Poem 
to celebrate the very great Antiquity of the Cambrians. 

Greece, (says he) hath long since robbed many Nations 
of their Honour, and arrogantly assumed their Inventions 
for her own — From the Chaldeans, she stole her Astro- 
nomy ; — From the Phaenicians, Letters ; and even their 
Jove from the Cretans : But not contented with these Acqui- 
sitions, 



91 

(43) 

sitions, she resolved to consummate her yet imperfect Glory, 

by adding the Mouse-Trap to her inventions. And now ! 

what Briton can suppress his Choler ! when he is told, that 
Homer (whose Writings are not, as ^tis thought, more than 
three thousand Years old) ascribes this stupendous Machine 
to a Modern Artificer, which derives its Original from a far 
more Antient Artist, and from the Ingenuity of the Welsh- 
Men, 

He therefore, thought it absolutely necessary, to defend the 
Fame of Wales^ lest the Greeks might seem to emulate the 
Cambrians in Antiquity ; or Home/^s Engineer, deprive their 
Taffy, of his just Reputation. 

I have translated this Account of the Muscipula, for the 
Satisfaction of the Curious ; and to assure the Censorious, on 
the Word of my Author, That what they mistake for Satyr ; 
was intended for a Panegyric, on the Antiquity of the Cam- 
brians, and their Skill in Mechanic Arts. 

(b) Smyntheus,) A Title of Phoebus, or Apollo, the fa- 
bled God of Poetry, given to Him by Homer, and other Po- 
ets. — He was worshiped under that Name, at Tenedos, and 
Chrysa, near Troy, in a Temple, wherein his Statue was 
placed, having a Mouse at his Feet : The Reason where- 
of was this, according to Callinous an antient elesriac Poet ; 
A Colony from Crete, going to Troas, received an Oracle 
from Apollo, ordering them to settle in the Place, where the 
Children of the Earth should attack them ; and one Xight, 
an infinite Number of Pats and 3Iice gnawed to Pieces all 
their Bucklers and other Leathern Utensils ; and this they 
took for an Accomplishment of the Oracle. — Madame Pa- 
cier's Note on the Word in Horn. II. 1. 

It may be supposed that Apollo destroyed these Pats and 
Mice, for Smyntheus, according to Eustathius, seems to be 
derived from cr/juvOo^; a Mouse, q. d. ijlvokXovO i. e. the 
Mouse-killer; which shews the propriety of the Epithet in 
this Place. 

(c) Cambria,) Wales, so called from Camber King of that 
Country ; the Son of Brutus who built london, and called 
it Troja-nova or new Troy, in Remembrance of old Troy; 

from 



92 

(44) 

from whence his Grand-father ^&eas came: He died 1139 
Years before Christ. — Milt. Hist. Engl, 

(d) Pindus,) A Mountain, dedicated to Apollo and the 
Muses ; supposed to be the Residence of the former, lying 
in Epirus in Greece ; now called Lower Albany y a Sea Pro- 
vince under the Turks. 

(e) When mighty Julius, by his dreadful Sword, 
CompeWd the conquer'^d Globe to call him Lord; 
While their poor Neighbor Britons were subdued 
The Cambrians, did his potent Arms elude, &c. 

It may be thought that this Julius, whose Conquests are 
said to be so Extensive, was Julius Caesar : But though he 
made two Expeditions into Britain, about 53 Years before 
Christ, yet the Glory, rather than the Dominion of Rome 
was encreased thereby ; for notwithstanding his own Account 
of them, several Writers speak very doubtfully of his British 
Victories, and that in plain Terms, He was driven from the 
Island ; as Lucan, in this noted Verse ; 

Territa quaesitis ostendit arma Britannis. 

Fled from the Britains, whom his Arms had fought. 
Horace, in a Compliment to Augustus says, The Britains were 
at that time untouched ; 

Intactus aut Britannus ut descenderet. 

Sacra catenatus vid. 

Or Britains yet untouched, in Chains shall come, 

To grace his Triumphs, thro' the Streets of Rome. 
And Tacitus, a grave Historian, says, That Julius Caesar 
did not conquer Britain, but only shewed it to the Ro- 
mans. So that our Julius, must be Agricola ; who in the 
Time of Domitian, about 80 Years after Christ, subdued al- 
most the whole British Nation ; and among others, many of 
the Cambrians inhabiting Herefordshire ; the rest fled into 
the Mountains and preserved themselves. The Words — 
Orbe Subacto, — must be read with Allowance for the Poetic 
License of putting the Whole for a Part. Eachard. Milton, 
Cambden. 

(/) Tedious 



93 

(/) Tedious Pedigrees they boast. 

Their antique Tongue, and Freedom never lost. 
As the Cambrians are said to be the true Britains unmix'd 
with other People, their Families, and Language, are 
doubtless very antient. — They remained uneonquered by 
the Romans ; — Tacitus, and Pliny, say they were a hardy, 
stout, warlike People; averse to Servitude, of great Bold- 
ness, and Resolution ; called by the Romans Obstinacy, and 
Stubbornness, not to be won by Threats or Kindness. — 
After the Romans had abandoned Britain, and withdrawn 
their Forces ; the other Britons, were miserably harrassed 
by the Saxons, but the Cambrians were secure, and free a- 
mong their prodigious Rocks ; — and confiding as well in 
their Strength and Courage, as in the Roughness and Sci- 
tuation of their Country, which may seem, in a manner, as 
if Nature had designM it for Ambuscades, and prolonging 
of War ; they resisted all their Enemies, and preserved their 
Liberty ; ^till the reign of Edw. I, when, (as he writes it of 
himself) the Kingdom of Wales was subjected to him : But 
in the next Age, nothing could induce them to endure this 
Servitude, nor could they be reconciled to the English Gov- 
ernment, ^till Hen. VII, descended from the Welsh, was 
favourable and easy to them ; and Hen. VIII, admitted 
them to the same Laws, and Liberties with the English; 
since that, and some Time before, the Kings of England, 
have found them of untainted Loyalty, and Obedience. — 
Milt. Camd. 

{g) Where now St. David's does her Fate deplore. 
An empty Name; her Prelates are no more, 
Half-buried sinks her City on the Shore. 
St. David's lies in the more Westerly Parts of Pembroke- 
shire, on a Promontory, extended far into the Irish Sea. W, 
Rufus, seeing Ireland from hence, said He could easily make 
a Bridge of Ships, whereby he might pass from Kingdom to 
Kingdom. Dewi, a most religious Bishop, translated the 
Archiepiscopal Seat from Kaer-Leion hither ; which from 
him was afterwards calPd Ty Dewi, i. e. David's House, 

And 



94 

(46) 

And by the Moderns, St. Davids, It had its Archbishops for 
a long Time, but the Plague raging very much here, the Pall 
was translated to Doll in Little-Britain, which was the End of 
this Archiepiscopal Dignity : The Britains in Latter Times, 
to regain it, commenced an Action against the A. B. of Can- 
terbury, Metropolitan of Efngland and Wales, but were cast. — 
What kind of City it was formerly, is hard to guess, seeing 
it has been frequently spoil'd by the Danes, Norwegians and 
other Py rates ; at present it is a very mean Place. Camd, 
Mr. JEd, Lhywd. Heyl. 

(h) While Cadwallader's bright Name shall live. 

Cadwallader is said to have been the last King of the Bri- 
tains, who having been thrown out by Faction, returned from 
Banishment, and invaded Kentwin the West Saxon-, who had 
chased the Welch Britains, as is chronicled, tho' without Cir- 
cumstance, to the very Sea Shore, about the Year 683 ; he 
proved victorious, then conquering the Isle of Wight, he gave 
the fourth Part of it to pious Uses ; and being warned (as he 
thought) by an Angel, to go to Rome, he went thither; was 
baptized by — Pope Sergius, and called Peter; he put on a 
religious Habit, died 5 Weeks after his Baptism, in the 
Thirtieth Year of his Age, and was buried in St. Peter's 
Church : His Successors were no longer called Kings of Bri- 

tain, but Kings, or Princes of Wales. This Account of 

Cadwallader is collected from Heylin's Cosm. and Baker's 
Chron. But Milton says, that He, whom the Britains will 
have to be Cadwallader, their last King, was Kedwalla a 
Saxon of the Royal Line, and Samme's in his B^^itannia, says, 
That the Britons, mistaken by Similitude of Name, ascribe 
the Actions of the one to the other. — But the British King 
Kedwalla, or Kadivallon, was, perhaps, the famous Cadioalla- 
der, who with a great Army of Britains, joyning Penda, the 
Mercian; destroyed Edwin, the greatest King of all the Sax- 
ons, and a Christian, in Battle ; and broke the Monarchy of 
the Northumbrians, which was chief in Britain. Cadwallon 
was a Christian, and Penda a Pagan ; but the Christian King, 
is said (hy Milton) to be more bloody than the Heathen; for he 

threatened 



95 

(47) 

threatened to root out the whole Nation, tho' then newly 
Christian, and omitting nothing of barbarous Cruelty in the 
Slaughter of Sex or Age, ravaged the Province at his Pleas- 
ure, 'till at last, he was cut off by Oswald (Brother to Eanfrid, 
who being of the Royal Line, had been banished to Scotland 
by Edwin ; and learned the Christian Religion there,) with a 
small Christian Army ; and He, and his boasted invincible 
Forces, were destroyed at a Place calPd Seavenfield or Hat- 
field in Yorhshire, near the antient Roman Wall. A. D, 634. 
Camd. MilL 

(^) At length he builds a Mouse-Trap ; which was made, 
Like thefame^d Trojan Horse by Pallas' Aid. 

Pallas, was the Heathen Goddess of Arts and Sciences, — 
The Original, exactly translated, would be — At length he 
builds a Mouse-Trap, by the Divine Art of Pallas : But as 
the Author has made Use of VirgiVs Words, wherein he men- 
tions the building of the Horse, which proved so fatal to the 
Trojans ) the Translator presumed that it would appear more 
ludicrous to make the Simile, which is not injurious to the 
Author^s Sense, who without doubt, had that famous Machine 
in View, when he applied VirgiVs Expression on that Sub- 
ject, to his Mouse-Trap, 

(k) Alike, on Men and Mice, the Fates attend, ^ 

Their Lives, alike, on feeble Threads depend ; ! 

Which, when the Cruel Sister cuts, alike their Days j 

must end. J 
The Parcae, or Fates, according to Ovid in the Story of 
Meleager, pronounce the Fate of every one that is born ; they 
were supposed to be three Sisters, their Names Clotho, Lachesis, 
and Atropos. — To them was intrusted the Thread of Life : 
Clotho, draws the Thread between her Fingers : — Lachesis, 
turns the Wheel ; — and Atropos, the most fatal of the Three, 
cuts the Thread which is spun, with a pair of Sheers. Serv, 
in Virg. .Mfi. I. 

(I) A Marsyan Boar compelled into the Snare.) 

Marsya 



96 

(48) 

Marsya, a Part of old Italy, was famous for having a Breed 
of wild Boars, of a vast Size, and great Fierceness : The 
Hunters, with their Dogs, drove thera into the Toiles which 
they spread for them ; and when they were intangled in the 
Nets, destroyed them. 

(m) Pembroke,) The chief Town of Pembrokeshire, the most 
pleasant County of all Wales. It is one direct Street, on a 
narrow Point of Land, all Kock ; close to the Walls, on both 
Sides, ebbs and flows a forked Arm of Milfordhaven, which 
contains sixteen Creeks, five Bays, thirteen Roads, and is the 
most spacious and secure Harbour in Europe. — Heyl. and 
Add. to Camden, 

(n) Mervinia,) Meirionydhshire, in North Wales ; of which 
Giraldus Cambrensis, quoted by Camden p. 655, saith, "That 
" it is the roughest and most unpleasant County of all Wales, 
" For the Hills are extraordinary high, and yet very narrow, 
"and terminating in sharp Peaks; nor are they thin scattered, 
" but placed very close ; and so even in height, that the Shep- 
" herds frequently converse from the Tops of them, who yet 
" in case they should wrangle, and appoint a Meeting, can 
"scarce come together from Morning 'till Night.'' But in 
the Add. to Camden, p. 657, G'lraldus is confuted. 

(*) Bangor, in the Original, Bonium ;) according to Camd, 
it lies in Flintshire, an eminent City in the Time of Antoni- 
nus, and afterwards a famous Monastery, in which saith Bede, 
" There were so many Monks, that when they were divided 
" into seven Parts, having each their distinct Ruler appointed 
" them ; every one of those particular Societies, consisted of 
" three hundred Men at least, who all lived by the Labour 
" of their own Hands. — Britan. 556. 

(o) Maridunum,) Caer-mardhin, is so called by Ptolemy, 
the chief Town in West- Wales ; here Merlin was born, said 
to be the son of an Incubus, (or Devil who deluded his 
Mother in human Shape) who has the Reputation of an 
eminent Prophet, among the Vulgar. Ninnius mentions 

him 



97 

(49) 

him first, but says, that Merlin confessed to King Vortigerrij 
that his Father was a Roman, which his Mother was afraid to 
own, lest she should be put to Death for it. All the Monkish 
Writers who mention him, call him either a Prophet, or 
Magician ; they relate Wonders of him, and have preserved 
many Prophesies, pretended to be his : But H. Lhwyd, a judi- 
cious Author, says, he was a Man of extraordinary Learn- 
ing, and Prudence; and that for some Skill in the Mathe- 
maticks, many Fables were invented of him by the Vulgar, 
which being afterwards put in Writing, were handed down 
to Posterity. Camd. p. 622, and the Add. to him. Merlin 
flourished, A. D. 480. 

(p) Glamorgan's well-fed Sons in order came.) The Origi- 
nal is Veniunt foecunda Glamorgan quos alit, — They 

came, whom fruitful Glamorgan nourishes. Glamorgan- 
shire, is washM by the Severn Sea, on the South ; on the North 
it is very rugged with Mountains, which inclining towards 
the South, become by Degrees more tillable, and spread into 
a spacious Plain, open to the South Sun, which is exceeding 
pleasant, for the Fertility of its Soil, and the Number of 
Towns and Villages there. Camd, 

(q) And those who drink of Vaga's winding Stream.) 
Vaga, — the River Wye ; runs Southward from Monmouth, 
with many Windings and Turnings, (says Camd. p. 596.) 
which may justify the Epithet, winding, in English, though 
it is not expressed in the Latin ; unless the Name Vaga, im- 
ports its winding Course. It's now the Limit between Glou- 
cestershire and Monmouthshire, but was formerly the Boundary 
between the Welsh and English, — near Chepstow it falls into 
the Severn Sea. 

(r) Whose Ploughs divide Montgomery's Soil, 

A rugged Race enured to Care and Toil. 
In the Latin, rigidusq ; Colonus Goraerici Montis. Mont- 
gomery, tho' it be a mountainous, yet is it in general a ve- 
ry fertile Country ; having fruitful Vales, as well for Pas- 
ture, 



98 

(50) 

ture, as arable Land. Camd. The Inhabitants, are an in- 
dustrious and laborious People. 

(s) Brechin.) This seems to be a Mountain, but I find 
none of the Name in Camd. He says that Brecknock, the 
Chief Town of the Shire, derives its Name from Prince 
Brechanius, of whom Giraldus gives this remarkable Ac- 
count, — That he had 24 Daughters, and that they were all 
Saints. — Two Miles to the East of Brecknock, is a large 
Lake, which Giraldus calls Clamosum, from the terrible 
Noice it makes like a Clap of Thunder, at the Cracking of 
the Ice. It was this Lake, perhaps, that resounded the 
Shouts of the Victors. 

{t) Snowdon.) The Mountains of this Name lie in Caer- 
narvonshirey Camd. calls them the British Alps. They are 
vastly high, and no less inaccessible than the Alps themselves; 
and do all of them, encompass one Hill, which far exceeding 
all the rest in height, seems, I shall not say to threaten the 
Sky, but even to thrust its Head into it. Camd. p. 663. 
Such as have not seen Mountains of this kind, are not able to 
frame any Idea of them, from the Hills of lower Countreys : 
For whereas such Hills are but single Heights, or Stories; 
these are heap'd upon one another; so that having climbed 
up one Hill, we come to a Valley, and most commonly to a 
Lake, and passing by that, we ascend another, and sometimes 
a Third and Fourth, before we arrive at its highest Peaks. 
Add. to Camd. 667. The Height of Snowdon, measur'd ex- 
actly by Mr. Adams, is 1247 Yards. Derh. Astro. TheoL 

(u) And vast Plinlimmon's Rocks remurmur to the Sound.) 
Plinlimmon rises to a great Height, and on that Side where 
it limits Montgomeryshire, sends out the River Severn ; next 
to Thames the most noted River of Britain : It takes its 
Name, according to the Monkish Writers, from Sahra, who 
was thrown into it by Guendoler, Daughter of Corineus 
Duke of Cornwal; — Her Story may be found in a wretched 
Play, called Locrine; falsely attributed to Shakespeare.) — 

Remurmur 



99 

(51) 

Remurmur to the Sound.) — The Word Remurmur, is fre- 
quently used by Mr. Dryden ; and by Mr. Pope, in these fine 
Lines, describing the Noise of an Army in their March. 
Murmuring they move, as when old Ocean roars, 
And heaves huge Surges to the trembling Shores, 
And groaning Banks, are burst with bellowing Sound, 
The Rocks remurmur, and the Deeps rebound. 

II. 2d. 249, &c. 

{w) Offa's Dyke.) Ofa, the Eleventh King of the Mer- 
cians, was the most valiant and powerful of all the English 
Saxons ; he proved victorious in many Battles ; but in the 
Year 776, all the Britains both of N. and S. Wales, joyning 
together, invaded the Kingdom of Mercia ; and made terrible 
Devastation in many Parts of the Country, wasting all with 
Fire and Sword : Whereupon Offa was constrained to make 
a Peace with the other Saxon Kings ; and to turn all his 
Forces against the Welsh, who, unable to resist so great a 
Power, were obliged to abandon all the plain Country, be- 
tween Wye and Severn, and retire to the Mountainous Parts, 
upon which Advantage, Ofa immediately seized all the plain 
Country, planted it with Saxon inhabitants, annexed it to his 
own Kingdom, and caused a Ditch, or Intrenchment, to be 
made from Sea to Sea between his Kingdom, and Wales, to 
defend his Country from future Invasion. Ech. p. 28. This 
Dyke extended from the Mouth of Dee, to that of the River 
Wye, for the Space of about 90 Miles ; many Parts of it are 
still to be seen. Joan. Salibur, in Polyerat. writes, that 
Harold established a Law, that whatever Welsh-Man should 
be found arm'd, on this Side the Limit he had set them, to 
wit, Offals Dyke, his right Hand should be cut off by the 
King^s Officers. Camd. p. 585. The Author of the Addition 
to Camd. says, that this Limit was not well maintained by 
the English ; for the antient British Customs, and Names of 
Men, and Places, remain still, for some Space on the English 
Side, almost the whole Length of it. p. 587. 

(x) With Leeks their Temples Crown.) It is said, That 
the Custom of wearing Leeks on St. David's Day, had this 

Original : 



100 

(52) 

Original : The Welsh gained a great Victory on that Day ; 
the Battle was fought near a Place where many Leeks grew, 
which they pulFd up, and wore in their Monmouth Caps, to 
distinguish themselves from others, and they continue to wear 
them on that Anniversary, as an honourable Badge of their 
Bravery. 

Whether the first of March was consecrated to the Me- 
mory of Dewy, or St. David, in the Note (g) who is thought 
to have suffered Martyrdom on that Day, or to David, the 
General in this Battle, I shall not determine, but leave it to 
the Criticks. 

It may, in the Opinion of some Readers, who are unac- 
quainted with the different Structure of Latin and English 
Verse, be thought a Fault in this Translation, that it con- 
tains more Lines than the Original; For their Satisfaction 
herein, I quote the following Passage, from the last jS^ote, 
on the 23d Book of Mr. Pope's Odyssey, with a little neces- 
sary Variation. 

Mr. Broome, the Author of that ISTote, having observed that 
there are but few Lines more in the Translation of the 23d 
Book, than in Homer, proceeds thus, '^ I speak it not as if 
" this were a Beauty, it may as well be a Fault ; Our He- 
" roic Verse consists but of Ten Syllables, the Latin of Fif- 
" teen ; as in this Verse, — Monticolam Britoneia qui primus 
^^ vincula Muri. We therefore write w^ith the Disadvantage 
" of Five Syllables ; which makes it generally impossible to 
" comprehend the Sense of One Line in the Original, within 
" the Compass of One Line in a Translation, with any tolei'- 
" able Beauty ; but in some Parts where the Subject seemed 
" to hang heavy, this has been attempted ; with what Suc- 
" cess must be left to the judicious Reader." — From hence 
it appears, that Two Lines of the Latin, contain as many 
Syllables as Three in English Verse; which will, I hope, jus- 
tify me on this Account. 



NOTES ON "MUSCIPULA." 



(1). Benedict Leonard Calvert, son of Benedict Leonard, Fourth Lord 
Baltimore, and Lady Charlotte Lee, his wife, and brother of Charles, Fifth 
Lord Baltimore, was governor of Maryland from 1727 to his death in 1732. 
He was a great-grandson of Cecil Calvert, Second Lord Baltimore and First 
Lord Proprietary, and succeeded Charles Calvert, who was a kinsman. 

(2). Edward Holdsworth was born in Hampshire, England, in 1684 and 
died in Warwickshire in 1746. He was a distinguished Latin poet and clas- 
sical scholar and travelled much in Italy. He spent the greater part of his 
life as private tutor in the families of the wealthy gentlemen. His poem 
" Muscipula," first appeared in 1709. It was very popular, and was trans- 
lated into English ten times during the eighteenth century. He was a 
noted student of Vergil. The Dictionary of National Biography contains 
a full sketch of him. 

(3). On October 10, 1727, Governor Calvert opened the fourth session 
of the General Assembly, begun on October 6, 1725, with a speech in which 
he called attention to the death of George the First and the succession of 
George Second, to whom he recommends an address be sent from the 
Maryland Assembly. The Governor thanks the people, through their 
representatives, for their kind reception of him and promises to show " a 
perpetual attachment to your Interest." He recommends 1st, that " true 
Religious Worship and the Vertues becoming the Profession of Christian- 
ity be established," 2nd, that some method be found to render the Staple 
tobacco more beneficial. The British complain that it is shipped too late 
in the year, and that "Slavery is imposed on the Sailors by being obliged 
to Role it from far to the Waterside." The ships suflTer from the worm, 
the sailors lose strength and the ships arrive in England in tempestuous 
season. Leaky ships and bad weather damage tobacco. 3rd, A reenact- 
ment of the Assize Law (which has expired) is needed to save witnesses 
and jurymen from the need of attendance at the Provincial Court by per- 
mitting certain cases to be tried at the County seats. 4th, The law regu- 
lating taverns should be continued. 5th, The commsssioners who had the 
old records copied should be thanked, the copies kept in a different place 
from the originals, so as to avoid danger from fire, and the Assembly Jour- 
nals should be " transcribed into large and Strong Books." Harmony of 
action is urged. The Lord Proprietary " Neither desires the destruction 
of your Liberty nor of his own prerogative. To me he gave this just Rule 

101 



102 

for my Administration that Prerogative and Privilege should have each 
their due." 

(4). Our staple, of course, is tobacco. 

(5). It has not seemed within the province of this reprint to add notes 
explaining all the allusions and quotations found in the poem and notes. 
On the last line of page 32 of the Latin text, Penbrochioe should probably 
read Penbrochiae. In the translator's notes, the pagination, but not the 
lineatioD, of the original has been preserved. The Greek quotation referred 
to on page 42 cannot be identified, as we have not the title page. The 
dedication to Kobert Lloyd, referred to on the same page, was not repro- 
duced in the Annapolis edition. On page 43, Smyntheus should be Smin- 
theus, Calhnous should be Callinus, and ixvokXovQ, fivoKT6vos. On page 44, 
last line, b should be omitted from Camden. 



